MiKADo
by Miss.Yamapi.Kara
Summary: .DISCONTINUED. 'In this story, I am known as Mikado.' Sasuke and Naruto are chosen, two of seven, to play part in saving another world from a devastating effect of their own bravest act. 'Your plant has an attitude problem.' NarutoxSasuke
1. May I Introduce

**Title: **'MiKADo'**  
Author:** Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Type:** Chapter-fic  
**Base:** 'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Pairing:** Naruto x Sasuke  
**Genre:** Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Friendship, Horror, Humour, Romance  
**Warnings: **Shounen-ai; mentions of killing; descriptions of killing; sexual content  
**Story Rating:** M

**Summary: **_"In this story, I am known as Mikado." Sasuke and Naruto are chosen, two of seven, to play part in saving another world from a devastating effect of their own bravest act. "Your plant has an attitude problem."_

**Chapter Title:** 'I. May I Introduce...'  
**Genre:** Drama, Fantasy  
**Warnings: **Mentions of war, death and alcohol consumption  
**Rating: **T  
**Chapter Soundtrack:** 'Rakuyou' ('Full Metal Alchemist' ST), 'Morning' ('Naruto' ST) 'It's Only The Fairytale' ('Mai-HiME' ST), 'Moments In Love' Art Of Noise, 'Sadness and Sorrow (Piano Version)' ('Naruto' ST), 'City Theme' Vanessa Mae, 'Mortality' ('Full Metal Alchemist' ST), 'D'angelo' Diablo Swing Orchestra**  
**

**So Basically:** Sasuke returned to Konoha after having killed Orochimaru (with the help of Naruto). It is not said what happened to Sasuke's brother, Sasuke's mission: Itachi. At only seventeen, having spent one full year in Konoha after training under the Snake Sannin for roughly three years, one can only wonder why the young boy returned: What was he thinking when he left? Did he accomplish what he set out to do? Whatever happened, he has renounced his name as Uchiha. Now, devoted to Naruto as his saviour without even realising it, Sasuke starts to see and hear things. Funny thing is, Naruto can see and hear them too. And Naruto knows they aren't hallucinations: they are real. Naruto kept his promise to Sakura, now he has made a promise to himself to keep Sasuke safe and with him always – he cannot bear to lose him all over again. For his best friend, he has become careful and quiet. Or as careful and quiet as Uzumaki Naruto can get. They are called upon by Mikado, a being not quite defined, to be sent to Mikado, a place on the brink of destruction due to Orochimaru's death. How? Follow them through 'MiKADo' to find out...

**Disclaimer: **I (, as the author of this piece of writing, 'MiKADo',) do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'.  
I appreciate the lenience of Masashi Kishimoto and all those concerned with 'Naruto' to not take any legal actions against myself, as I have not purposely intended to offend them, nor have I intended to steal their material, earnings or imagination. I am gaining no profit from this piece other than my own enjoyment and perhaps expressed delight or amusement from unfamiliar readers.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

I thank Masashi Kishimoto every day since coming across 'Naruto' for sharing his story – THANKYOU!

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing as I am proud of it and hold it very dear to myself. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it without permission from myself, the author. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, large or small, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

I believe it is one of the greatest things in this world to be able to create things from your own mind, heart, soul and fabric. Be proud of your own creations – they could only ever come from you.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note: **My first chapter fanfiction... it's so EXCITING!! I can't believe I'm actually writing one.. It feels strange. Anyway, please enjoy it!

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**I. May I Introduce...**

**- **

I am the trick of the light.

I am the something you saw out of the corner of your eye.

I am the silhouette of the person that isn't really there.

I am the Watcher.

In this story, I am known as Mikado.

* * *

"Whoa..." light blond hair and inquisitive blue eyes stared back at Naruto from the glass. Any passer-by would have thought he had been dropped one too many times as a baby, the way he bobbed his head and touched the glass so gingerly, as if it would be frightened away by him. 

"Oi," a quiet call from Naruto's right, "Usuratonkachi, we have an appointment to get to." Sasuke - _just Sasuke_ - with dark eyes, black hair and a passive gaze, slowly walked his way to Naruto's side.

After having killed Orochimaru – menace of the world, psychopath, and number one threat to Konoha – Sasuke easily heeded Naruto's pleas and returned to his hometown. The news had brought Konoha to a stand-still and shocked the Hokage right off of her seat one far-too-early drunken morning; however, the calmness with which Sasuke surrendered his self-appointed mission did not perturb Naruto at all. In fact, he seemed to be the only one who did not need the reasons explained. Needless to say, he was also the only one whom Sasuke would tell. Naruto had seen so much in Sasuke's eyes – the whole story – it pained him to listen to the details. But of course he listened because he would never turn his back on Sasuke, his best friend.

Sasuke rarely spoke – rarely spoke to anyone but Naruto. Sometimes it seemed as though he had only one facial expression. Those who saw him around Naruto wondered if maybe he inadvertently sucked life from the blond boy: when together, Sasuke would become a little more relaxed, happier, while Naruto became a little more careful and composed. Both were skilled, one was still a ninja, but neither was unchanged by past events. It was those past events, however, that everyone who cared for the story of the duo was oblivious to. No one else knew, and Sasuke liked it that way. No one else but Naruto knew what had happened to his brother, to the traitor-murderer. No one else knew why Sasuke had come back, and Sasuke was content to have them think whatever they wanted. The opinions of the people of Konoha were not his concern and he did not intend to change that. The only opinion that mattered to Sasuke was Naruto's because Sasuke believed that Naruto was the only reason he was still alive – he was the only one with the right to know.

Sasuke and Naruto.

It was still rarer to see them together than apart, but no one who knew them could honestly say that Sasuke and Naruto were anything less than best friends.

"Idiot, are you listening?" Sasuke – _just Sasuke_ – shoved his ex-teammate's shoulder none-too-gently, "The Hokage is expecting us."

Naruto made no response. His eyes were fixed on the image being reflected in the vacant shop window. He whipped his head around to look at something behind him, then turned it back to stare into the glass again. Sasuke lifted one elegant eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, the way he did when he was mildly confused and too relaxed to notice his actions, which was only in the presence of Naruto. He too turned his head to look behind. Nothing out of the ordinary: busy mid-afternoon street, children playing, grocer selling fruit, cloudless clear blue sky and the Hokage Tower in the distance.

Back to the shop window and the task at hand: getting Naruto to hear him, "We'll be late if you don..." Sasuke's voice trailed off. Looking more carefully at the reflection, he noticed something that shouldn't be: a sky of thick grey clouds. His eyes moved first, leading him to turn his head. The sky behind and above him was blue. Baby blue. Blue like the sky should be on a cloudless day. Cloudless. Sasuke blinked, _'The sky should be cloudless.'_

"Na, Sasuke, do you hear that?" Naruto had said it unusually quietly, which made Sasuke feel a little uncomfortable seeing as he had no idea what Naruto was referring to. He was squinting at the not-really-existing grey clouds behind his face in the reflection.

"Hear what?" Sasuke felt even more uncomfortable after hearing his own voice reply in a whisper.

"The music.. it sounds like the music from a music box..." Naruto tilted his head, a subconscious action made to catch more of the sound.

Sasuke looked left, at Naruto, "Music box?" and listened.

Nothing.

Only the busy mid-afternoon street noises, the children laughing.

And then, Sasuke heard bells – he heard a quiet violin, he heard the subdued plucking of a guitar, he heard small chimes, he heard high thrums and dulled pats like dancing steps of a child – and he took Naruto by the hand.

"Oi, Sasuke! What are ya' doin'? Where're we goin'?" Naruto protested as he stumbled, cursing Sasuke for his long legs and even longer strides, "And why are you draggin' me around?! Hey!!"

"You see reflections of dark grey clouds that don't exist and hear music that has no explainable origin, and you don't consider that an ill omen? I'm leaving that strangeness behind and we're going to see the Hokage, as was asked of us." Sasuke – _just Sasuke_ – spoke coolly, as if he didn't really think he was being followed by an evil spirit.

Naruto caught up and scoffed at Sasuke's behaviour, _'Inconsiderate asshole, makin' me trip on my own feet!'_

He ignored the way Sasuke's hand kept hold of his.

Naruto looked back to the glass of the shop window while Sasuke's words bounced from ear to ear, _'But the clouds.. they weren't dangerous.'_

* * *

In this story, I am known as Mikado. 

In the world of Naruto and Sasuke, I have no certain name.

In another world, I am known as Mikado.

In this story, I am known as Mikado, because the people of this world are the first of my Children to give me a definitive name.

This story is a story of that world.

* * *

In that world, in the world Mikado, there is a man. 

He is sitting on a stool, in a bar, in his town; leaning elbows on a bench, hands around a glass, eyes on the floor of this bar in his town.

His town is called Muerta, for a very good reason. His town is dead. His town lies on the river that was once the state boarder of Kida and Kima – Kida and Kima are two of the four states in the world of Mikado, and the only two to have conducted war. Kida and Kima were once one state: the Greater Land Mikado. Now they are two states, at peace after the Fifty-year War, and so the boarder is once again only a river. He was born into that war – served at the height of that war – lost his most precious people in that war. He is now sarcastic; he says, "That war was my life!" and he is drunk and he drinks more.

His town is called Muerta. It used to be called Diva. It used to be alive.

This man fancies he is dead. He fancies he is dead and he belongs on the river-cum-boarder of Kida and Kima. He fancies he is dead because his family is dead. His daughter was born during the war as well. His daughter died in the very last year of the war. Her mother as well.

His world is young. Its leader is young. I've heard this man say to himself that he has spent too much time there.

He wants to be left alone.

The name of this man is Weith.

He is sitting on a stool, in a bar, in his town, right now.

And I have chosen him.

* * *

In the world Mikado, there is a girl. 

She is perched on a high wall, in an alley, in her town; balancing on her toes, her fingers gripping the edge, watching the people in the alley of her town.

Her town is not so much a town, as it is the outskirts and slums of the Land Mikado. Nevertheless, it is her home, for it is all that she knows. This area lies directly, but far, east of Muerta, on the furthest limit of Mikado. It lies on the boarder, the same river, of the other two states: Blis and Iio. This girl only knows this from the travellers she has overheard talking – the travellers she has overheard talking while she silently swiped the bags of coins hanging at their belts.

She was born into the Age of War, but she did not serve and she was not threatened by it. Blis and Iio remained estranged from Kida and Kima for fifty years. She was not threatened by war; she was threatened by starvation and cut-throats. This girl became a thief. The people she watches from the high walls of her maze-outskirt-slum-home are her victims. She has never killed, and I doubt she ever will.

I think she will do well.

This girl is young. She thinks she loves being young. She isn't really sure. She says she wants gold and jewels.

She doesn't know what she wants.

The name of this girl is Emery.

She is perched on a high wall, in an alley, not in a town, right now.

And I have chosen her.

* * *

The world Mikado has a leader. 

The leader is called Mikado.

Mikado is sitting in his room, in the centre of his bed, in the palace of Mikado, in the centre of the Land.

He is emperor of all four lands: formerly Greater Land Mikado, now Kida and Kima, as well as Blis and Iio. He resides at the centre of his four lands – his is the point at which they merge.

His father before him and all of his lineage, each different to the next, wanted the best for the Land Mikado. All of them tried for a different "best". Mikado wants what's best for Mikado, too. He feels remorse for the past Age of War, even though he is in no way at fault, and has silently vowed that he will prevent this happening in his own time. About the Age, he knows nothing personally. I've heard him cry at night because he doesn't know what to do: Mikado is facing another threat.

And Mikado is young. His Majesty Mikado is only eleven years old.

From outside the door to the master's room, his dutiful attendant sighs.

She is Personal Attendant and First Advisor to His Majesty Mikado. I know that she prefers to call him Hatsu.

Hatsu is the little boy's name and she thinks it is cruel to make such a young boy lead an empire. Those before him were not younger than twenty, but he is unlucky, she says, he is unlucky because he was always an only child and his parents are both deceased. Carmine is the attendant's name, and she loves Hatsu as if he were her own son.

She cries at night too; she cries for her son Hatsu.

Hatsu is young, but he is kind. He wants to protect his home and his people.

Carmine is strong-willed and has a clever tongue. She wants to help her master achieve his goals.

Mikado Hatsu and First Advisor Carmine are in the palace of Mikado, in the centre of the Land, at the point of merging of the four lands.

And I have chosen them.

* * *

Somewhere, there is a man. 

He is doing something, in some place. I know he is.

His town is nameless and his home is nowhere. His past is passed and I know that he likes it that way. He has scars, like Weith. He is confused, like Emery. He is frightened, like Hatsu. He is worried, like Carmine.

He is all these things and still himself. He is all these things and he is not.

I don't know what he wants.

He is doing something, in some place, I know he is.

The name of this man is Aldehyde.

And I have chosen him.

* * *

I have chosen seven.

* * *

"Oi, Sasuke-baka, are you comin' in or what? You're the one who _dragged_ me all the way here!" Naruto huffed and made sure to slam the entrance door to the Hokage Tower in Sasuke's day-dreaming face. Sasuke – _just Sasuke_ – ignored the sound as he kept staring up into the blue sky. Blue like the sky should be on a cloudless day. For a moment, Sasuke wondered whether or not Naruto could still hear the beautifully haunting pied-piper tune that had Sasuke tense only minutes ago. 

_'A siren's song is the sweetest sound of all.' _Sasuke dreaded the coming days with the intuitive shiver that crawled up his spine.

**_ To be continued..._**

* * *

YAY! Chapter 1, over and out! _deeeeep breath ... exhale ..._ I would love to read anything and everything that readers think about this! It would be great to hear all opinions on whether or not I should continue this story. I will continue anyway, but I'd still appreciate shared thoughts. :D Thankyou for reading! I will reply to all registered reviewers. ;P 

P.S.: Apologies for all the gigantic lines in there... I just can't figure out what else will work as a break in this publishing program... and I'm too impatient to figure it out before I post. :P If I figure it out before my next chapter, I'll probably change it.


	2. Welcome, Weith

**Chapter Title:** 'II. Welcome, Weith'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'**  
Author:** Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humour  
**Warnings: **Drunken behaviour, very mild swearing  
**Rating:** T  
**Base:** 'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary:** Mikado begins to recruit the seven. The first: Weith Tondril of formerly Greater Land Mikado.

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

I believe it is one of the greatest things in this world to be able to create things from your own mind, heart, soul and fabric. Be proud of your own creations – they could only ever come from you.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note: **After trying to figure out how I want this to go, I've decided to just cut everything up, throw it in the air and play it as it lies. Therefore: a few small chapters will follow each other until all characters have been dumped into the scene that will actually properly start things off. TA-DA! This also means that the next few chapters should be updated much earlier than I initially anticipated. Please, enjoy reading the second chapter of 'MiKADo': 'Welcome, Weith'!

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**II. Welcome, Weith**

**- **

I am the trick of the light.

I am the something you saw out of the corner of your eye.

I am the silhouette of the person that isn't really there.

I am the Watcher.

In this story, I am known as Mikado.

* * *

In the world Mikado, there is a man. 

He is sitting on a stool in a bar with his eyes trained on the floor and his hands resting loosely around a half-empty glass. Or half-full, depending on your individual state of mind. It is night, almost midnight, and the bar should really be closed. However, with the meager amount of patrons that come by regularly, it is forced to remain open until the last sodden customer is thrown out the door and into the street. It really is a pity that this man isn't outside right now – it's such a beautiful night. So beautiful in fact, that I think it is the perfect night to begin...

* * *

Weith leaned more heavily on the darkening aged wood of the bar counter. It creaked in protest to the added strain, but nothing more. The bar was dimly lit by oil lanterns stationed evenly throughout, some hanging in the corners of the room and others left to sit on scattered table-tops. The fire simmering lowly in the red brick fireplace at the front of the room crackled quietly and sent its own glow over the weathered floors, warming the cold feet of newly arrived customers. Orange light crept over the mahogany tables and chairs and darkened to a red-brown shadow as it reached the outer limits of the space. Weith sat an even distance from each end of the bar counter, directly in the centre of the fringe of the warmth. He took no notice of the way he balanced on the boarder between the darkness and the light of the room, or of the eyes that watched him intently from the darkest corner of it. He stared blankly into his glass, at the honey-coloured liquid. It was warm and flat from being untouched for a good half hour – after all, it was his fourteenth drink and he was bound to become disinterested sooner or later. Behind him, ten-even men sat around two separate tables, engaged in a conversation that passed back and forth between them. Some were young, some were old, but all were focussed on one topic: the Fifty-year War that had them all living in squalor, even fifteen years on. 

At that point, one man raised his voice, becoming loud in drunken jesting with his conversational partners, "Hey, 'ey, hold on! Hol' on! We all know i's useless ta spec.. scept.. sepictate-"

"Speculate." Another of the men offered; the first raised his mug in thanks and grinned, showing yellowing teeth and stretching his dirty blond moustache, to which the slightly more sober man raised his mug in return before taking a long draught.

"Thanks, mate! Yeah, w'all know i's bloody useless to," he paused, waving an arm clothed by ripped second-grade leather dramatically, then pronouncing the word with a wide open mouth, "_speculate_. We need'a know it from tha soldier 'imself!" He clumsily stood from his seat, mug in hand, to steer his blurred vision to Weith, "Buddy! Tell us, tha whores in north Kida-" he attempted to push back his chair into the small space between him and the next man seated behind him, "they real-ly as _wild_ as people s-" the man's slurred question was cut short as he fell abruptly to the floor, one leg still bent awkwardly on the chair he had attempted to climb over. The two groups laughed and hiccuped at their fallen comrade.

At the bar, Weith snorted and downed the last of his warm drink. He slapped his bill, no tip, down on the counter and turned to leave – leave the warm glow that he couldn't feel and the orange light that he couldn't stand. He almost tripped over his own feet as the owner of the eyes that he took no notice of appeared before him, seemingly out of nowhere. Weith didn't see more than a dark outline of a person: average height, average build – really just a big black blob standing in his field of view.

As suddenly as lightning strikes, his vision became entirely dark and he felt as though he was being dragged through pure air, faster than anything he could imagine. But he felt no wind rushing past, as if he were running; he felt no movement around him, as if he were really moving. It was as if it was his surroundings that were changing, flickering, while not affecting him in any way but to tamper with his balance slightly. He felt as though he was teetering slowly backwards. Then, Weith felt panic for the first time in fifteen years. He couldn't find his voice to scream.

In the oblivion, moving and still, he heard a soft voice, genderless and ageless, "I have chosen you, Weith Tondril."

The changing sped up and slowed down – sped up and slowed down – flickered without becoming lighter, without becoming darker.

The voice was warm with reassurance, "Welcome, Weith."

And everything stopped.

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

Aah, chapter 2 written. I'm looking forward to reviews! Please do leave a message for me – even one word will make me happy! I just want to know that my story is being read. I haven't figured out the break problem yet, by the way. But I'm still working on it. (I'm just a little stupid with new programs; I basically do what I know and am reluctant to explore too much - lazy, yay.) 

Again, I will reply to all registered reviewers and, if I have the time, I will also read and review for a story of yours, should you have one written. (Two, in some cases :P)

Thankyou to everyone who has read this! I hope to have the next chapter up within two days. :D


	3. Welcome, Emery

**Chapter Title:** 'III. Welcome, Emery'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'**  
Author:** Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre:** Adventure, Drama, Fantasy  
**Warnings:** Swearing; rodents (I love 'em, some people don't. Phobias exist.)_  
_**Rating:** M (for language)  
**Base:** 'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary:** Mikado begins to recruit the seven. The second: Emery of outer Mikado.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

I believe it is one of the greatest things in this world to be able to create things from your own mind, heart, soul and fabric. Be proud of your own creations – they could only ever come from you.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note: **So, the second now joins. Please be patient with these few smaller chapters – we'll see Naruto and Sasuke again soon enough. :D

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**III. Welcome, Emery**

**- **

I am the trick of the light.

I am the something you saw out of the corner of your eye.

I am the silhouette of the person that isn't really there.

I am the Watcher.

In this story, I am known as Mikado.

* * *

In the world Mikado, there is a girl. 

She is perched on a wall overlooking an alley in the slums that she calls home, with her feet placed carefully apart and her hands gripping the edge of the wall. She isn't clasping it tightly; she has a good sense of balance. I am glad that she is outside on this beautiful night, though sad that that is the only place she is to be found at this time; she doesn't really have a home, and I know she hates to call this place as such. I understand that she doesn't have much of a choice, not with how easily she spends the money she earns in her thieving. Now, yes now, I will continue. She is the second...

* * *

Emery knew that she would have to move quietly, quickly, so as not to alert the two men of her skulking. In her familiar observatory position, she twisted her neck to find the moon and take note of the direction of its shadow-casting. Bringing her eyes back to the two a little further into the cluttered alley before her, she grinned like a cat with a plan; primary assessment complete. Emery turned to put her hands, palm flat down, beside each other on the wall to the right of her body. With ease, she shifted her weight onto them and lowered herself, feet first, down the grey wall. She landed gracefully on a clear part of the stone floor and crouched down low. Her eyes scanned the area again; secondary assessment underway. 

The two men stood roughly twenty metres away from her, close together in what they obviously thought was a corner dark and hidden enough to have their transaction be safe from unwanted prying eyes. Needless to say, they were mistaken. Although the towering wall of the abandoned building behind them kept them shielded from the main road, the light of the full moon was being shed directly next to them. If they had been alert, they would have noticed the way the pile of boxes and broken chairs on one side of them failed to completely cover them from the opposite side. In the hunting eyes of Emery, they were in full-view.

"I got it. The bitch was tough to shut up, but I managed." The first man sighed with exhaustion.

"Good. The snobs in City Height don't deserve to have things easy. They just make it harder for us." The second man replied.

The first sighed again and exclaimed, "I don't care what they deserve or don't, I just want to keep my sister with me."

Emery chose not to hear that.

The men's clothes were a dirty grey-brown and each article was indistinguishable from the next, though it was apparent that they wore layer upon layer. If not to protect themselves as best they could from the cold, then to conceal the goods, no doubt stolen, that were being passed discreetly between hands. Neither man had a distinct feature – both looked rather plain. No evident facial hair. They must have been younger than the dim alley made them appear. Perhaps the fatherless sons and brothers of the soon-to-be motherless struggling families, doing all they could to support their siblings in a society whose insecure economy could not offer them an occupation.

Emery chose not to see that.

Emery saw two people, handling something that sparkled, something that could give her what she thought was true happiness. At least, for a few moments before she decided she didn't want it anymore and pawned it off for a new pretty thing.

Emery saw two people, who had something she wanted, standing vulnerable to her amidst the trash and creeping rats in an otherwise deserted alleyway.

And she pounced.

Deftly, she hopped over two overturned plant pots, a discarded ladder, hid behind the next tall dumpster, and froze there when the men looked over their shoulders and in her direction. She furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes lost the glitter in them. She hadn't made a mistake...

From somewhere on the splintered awnings of the derelict noodle shop behind her, a rat lost its footing and fell onto her shoulder with a faint splat and a high-pitched squeak. Emery cursed and shook the vermin from her arm roughly.

"What's that?" One of the men whispered to the other, "Someone's there!"

"Fuck it, let's get out of here." The other said, hiding his panic.

They ran from the alley and Emery slowly slumped to the ground. She watched the rat as it scurried away from her. It suddenly jumped in surprise and diverted to the left, disappearing under the dumpster, as a shrouded figure appeared in its path. Emery looked up, but found she couldn't see clearly. She squinted but failed to clear her vision. She saw the blackness diffuse outwards from the figure. Then, she saw only darkness. She felt strange, almost weightless but heavy at the same time. She felt as if she was moving but also still. She began to feel unwell.

A voice reached her ears, "I have chosen you, Emery."

She strained to hear the gentle ambiguous voice again. She tried to forget her sloshing stomach.

It came then, kind and warm, "Welcome, Emery."

And everything stopped.

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

And chapter 3 is done. Please, read and review! I'd really like to know what people think of it so far. :)_**  
**_


	4. Welcome, Hatsu: Welcome, Carmine

**Chapter Title: **'IV. Welcome, Hatsu; Welcome, Carmine'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author: **Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre: **Adventure, Drama, Fantasy  
**Warnings: **None outstanding  
**Rating:** T (only because the imminent destruction of a world is mentioned.. it's a kinda scary thought)  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary: **Mikado begins to recruit the seven. The third: Mikado Hatsu Esteon, emperor of Mikado. The fourth: Carmine Leucas, aid to the emperor.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** Chapter 4. Finally. I would have loved to get it out sooner. This is long and very probably boring; it turned out way different to previous chapters as well. I'm reasoning that: this chapter is different because it contains the focal point/character of this story, other than Naruto and Sasuke. But it's important information in here. Or maybe it's just bad.

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**IV. Welcome, Hatsu;**

**Welcome, Carmine**

**- **

I am the trick of the light.

I am the something you saw out of the corner of your eye.

I am the silhouette of the person that isn't really there.

I am the Watcher.

In this story, I am known as Mikado.

* * *

The world Mikado has a leader. 

The leader is called Mikado.

Mikado is in his room, in the palace of Mikado, in the centre of the Land. Standing now before a grand mirror in his chambers, I see him. I'd like a mirror like that. He is the focus of a sadly pretty picture: a young boy, slightly effeminate but not without boyish qualities, being towered over by a vertical lake of glass with his shoulders squared and flowing robes the colour of royal deep purple. He looks so small in comparison, amongst all the lovely things detailed in this living painting. The mirror reflects his image flawlessly. So well, in fact, that the anguish in his eyes gives life to the imprisoned copy. Or perhaps it is the boy himself who exudes this caged aura. The third...

* * *

First Advisor to Mikado Hatsu. 

There she is, pacing in the spacious hallway outside the great doors that lead into the personal chambers of Mikado Hatsu. She looks even more nervous now than the last time I visited. Of course, the moment Hatsu exits his room and enters her presence, her entire countenance will change. She will transform into a vision of confidence. She is his main support; Carmine Leucas accepted the role as crutch to her emperor long ago with an absolute desire to live for him. For him. She is, without question, imperative to this story. The fourth...

* * *

Hatsu looked himself over and sighed once, breath leaving his lips in a gentle blow. He would admit that he had no qualms with wearing the dark plum colour of the royal garments, but he plainly could not understand why it was necessary that he carry so many pieces of it. He counted: an undershirt, a shirt bearing the royal crest on its long sleeves, a vest buttoned with amethyst stones, the long pants covered by a short sash – known in his country as a loom – that wrapped around his waist and clung there; as well as sandals the same colour, a short cape – called a varse – and a long robe that swept the floor as he walked. It was far too big. It was his father's robe. It was his grandfather's robe. Every Mikado in the history of the Land had worn this very robe for occasions such as that of the day for which Mikado Hatsu was now preparing himself. 

He was to hold council with a very important guest.

He was to hold council with the Representative of the Sky, the Representative of Sukai.

In the expansive reflection of the mirror, Hatsu let his eyes flit from object to object in his room. All in reverse. His lecture desk, large and polished, shone with the warm light of the afternoon sun. That light streamed in through the glass of his floor-to-ceiling window, framed by sculptured brass. Next to the window stood a long set of shelves holding fictional volumes that told and retold stories of the Land Mikado and others, bound in stained leather with titles etched in golden paint. In the shelves along the next wall rested the annals, entirely factual accounts of happenings within the Land throughout its history, numbers and words that were vital to his position. A soft large rug of rich reds and yellows carpeted the floor. In the next corner was his beloved plant, flowerless with emerald green and azure blue leaves glossy in good health. It was given to him by Carmine the year before. She said it was a gift to celebrate his inauguration.

He had named it Tsutsui.

At the time, it was able to stand on his lecture desk; now it reached the tip of his nose when the pot was placed on the floor. In the centre of his room was his bed. It was large and lonely, covered in deep red sheets and shielded by earthy orange veils on all sides. As his eyes met those of his reflection again, he was reminded of his previous train of thought.

Hatsu folded his shirtsleeves carefully within the folds of the robe, knowing he needed to be well presented in council. As not only the emperor but also the Representative of the Earth, Representative of the Land Mikado, it was Hatsu Esteon who would welcome the esteemed guest into the realm. They were to discuss the recent increase in problematic happenings throughout the Land. These events were all unusual, even for a land in post-war times, and that had caught the attention of those that Hatsu wanted to face both most and least of all. He wanted more than anything to be recognised by the God and the aids of the God of his world, but he became anxious at the thought that they would dismiss him. He did not want to disappoint them, but he did not know how to please them, how to lead his people.

The boy looked himself over again but held his second sigh – leaking of negative emotions would not do in the presence of such a guest. Certainly not. It was not a very frequent thing for Hatsu to have to don the ancient robe of his predecessors and he intended to come across as comfortable in them. It was required of him only once each season for the meeting of the governments of the four states of Mikado, and for six separate festivals: one to celebrate each season, one to formally mark the ending of a cycle – or year – and the last to signify the beginning of a cycle. He had no qualms with wearing the garments.

He had qualms with being seen in them.

Hatsu shifted his weight from the toes of one foot to the heel, to the toes of the other, to the heel, and then back again. He did this a few more times to stretch his ankles. He looked to the ceiling and closed his eyes.

Mikado Hatsu understood the role of emperor a little too well. The position terrified him. He was afraid to fail and afraid to lead. He awaited the time when he would make a mistake that would cause his beloved home to finally crumble to nothing. He was emperor of Mikado after the Age of War – he was emperor of Mikado during the Age of Despair.

That was what his people called it.

That was what he was pleaded to change.

And that, he was afraid, would be his legacy: an Age of Lasting Despair.

Hatsu opened his eyes and attempted to rid them of the building tears. The heavy robe of his forefathers followed the upward movement of his arm. The wide sleeve slipped down to his elbow as he carefully stroked one hand under his left eye, followed by his right. The arm descended gradually and Hatsu gauged the obviousness of the small disaster. His thoughts turned back to the coming meeting with the Representative of the Sky. He was afraid of the Representative of the Sky, as well, for while he was informed of the Representative's importance and legend, he had never met this particular guest before. To say he was apprehensive was a generous understatement. This guest had announced himself in the Land Mikado only twice before; the last time was in the year before Hatsu's birth.

The first was almost three thousand years ago.

* * *

Carmine forced herself to stop pacing, mid-step, and stomped her foot down like a soldier coming to attention. She huffed. One glance towards the door of His Majesty's chambers and she knew exactly what he was doing. At that moment, she knew, he was staring into his mirror, looking lost and confused. His Majesty's First Advisor and Personal Attendant liked to believe there was not one thing she did not know about her emperor. Mikado Hatsu. She liked to believe he was her son. But she had to accept that he was not a 'son' at all – he was a father. Until he reached the age of ten, since after the death of his parents four years prior to that, he had been conditioned to become a leader. He had been trained to become father to each and every citizen in the four states of the Land he presided over by blood-right. 

Carmine despised that.

However, she also understood the necessity of the process. Mikado was in peril and she was not one to refuse the desire of her emperor to change that. Even at such a young age, Hatsu had insisted he become the one to lead his people into light. He had insisted to reinstate the peace his father fought so hard to keep. Carmine knew it was Hatsu's greatest wish to become a leader and be recognised by the God. She hated that he was in such a pressured position.

But she accepted it.

There was nothing else she could do.

After all, she had no right to speak against it.

As her eyes roamed her surroundings, she tried to direct her thoughts to other topics. She thought about how extravagant the palace looked, without being filled with expensive statuettes and displaying paintings that consumed entire walls. She had often read to Hatsu to help him fall asleep when he was younger and many of the volumes described grandiose castles and wealthy counts, beautiful gardens and golden hallways.

Esteon Palace was not such a place.

The family Esteon had always possessed good taste. Carmine studied the sculpted wood of the columns that held the ceiling up in the wide hall. She appreciated the warm colours chosen to splash here and there: reds and yellows, earthy tones to warm the heart. It was a welcoming feeling that came over one when walking through the palace. There was an occasional large-scale painting or a set of furniture with inlaid golden filigree, but nothing excessive existed in the place. Inevitably, her focus returned to Hatsu.

It brought small comfort that as Personal Attendant she was able to discreetly monitor Hatsu's condition and his progress. And she was proud of him, regardless of the situation. She leaned back against the wall behind her, hands clasped and eyes trained on the ornate door in front of her. Tracing the intricate patterns with her eyes, she considered the situation she and Hatsu were in. As Personal Attendant she was able to care for him, but as First Advisor it was her role to discuss recent events, improvement strategies and all the like with the Mikado. It was her role to offer point of views he may not see and bring to his attention any omissions he may make. In this position, Carmine was able to share the burdens of the Mikado with Hatsu.

The Mikado was currently preparing himself for a meeting with the Representative of the Sky. Carmine was no fool, she understood that the potential severity of the hardships still to come was incredible by any standards; however, she could not fathom the reason for the legendary Representative's presence. He had shown himself twice before; once, at the beginning of the history of Mikado, and then in the last years of the life of the last Mikado. Once to begin the world, then to save the world – it was no coincidence that Hatsu was miraculously born to an aged couple at the time when the Land Mikado would have fallen without divine intervention.

Mikado Hatsu was the embodiment of the Land Mikado's last hope.

Carmine pushed herself from the wall to stand straight when she heard footsteps coming towards the door from inside the room. She smoothed her hands over her pristine white dress, formal for the grave occasion, and composed herself. She was ready.

The handle turned.

* * *

Hatsu pushed down on the brass lever and pulled it towards himself. He lifted his head with the intention of speaking to Carmine, but instead stared into a black void. The shape looked like a body, tall and possibly cloaked. A body of dark nothingness. 

Slowly, his vision became blurred; the shapes Hatsu could see became dark, like shadows, and outlined in black. It was as if things were fading from existence and into pure darkness. His body began to feel light. He felt movement, but he was not moving.

Hatsu peered past the dark figure and into Carmine's surprised eyes.

Carmine gazed past the dark figure and into Hatsu's frightened eyes.

She tried to yell for Hatsu to back away, but found she had no strength to speak – the hall was fading around her, the room before her becoming a scene veiled in grey – and she was loosing herself in the waves of temperature-less, unmoving air she felt rush across her skin. Her eyebrows furrowed in a last effort to understand the feeling engulfing her.

"I have chosen you, Hatsu Esteon; Carmine Leucas."

Carmine was not alarmed by the sudden voice, but struggled against the lulling effect of its calmness; she needed to know where Hatsu was.

"Welcome, Hatsu; welcome Carmine."

And everything stopped.

_**To be continued... **_

* * *

Apologies for dragging this one – I know it must have been painful. Everlasting thanks to whoever did read it all! _turns to friend who read before posting_ You are so awesome right now. 

Next chapter: Naruto and Sasuke are abducted and the seven are introduced to each other; you find out more about the history of/current events in Mikado and begin to understand the intensity of the threat that not even Mikado's emperor knows enough about to fight.


	5. Black Blood

**Chapter Title: **'V. Black Blood'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author: **.Kara  
**Genre: **Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humour  
**Warnings: **Yelling (of a friendly nature); mentions of blood; actions able to be interpreted as (very) light shounen-ai  
**Rating:** T  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary: **Mikado recruits the last of the seven: Sasuke and Naruto. They are explained the reasons for their summoning and meet four of the other five. It is the beginning of a new era for Mikado.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

.Kara

**Author's Note:** Lots of 'I don't know's and 'what am I gonna do's here.. I changed the ideas of breaking up the scenes thrice.. I ended up with the second layout passing. The first of the longer chapters – please, let me know what is interesting and what made you skip paragraphs. Oh, and I used some Japanese terms – apologies if they are incorrect, I tried my best. :D

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**V. Black Blood**

**- **

"Oi, Sasuke-baka, are you comin' in or what? You're the one who _dragged_ me all the way here!" Naruto huffed and made sure to slam the entrance door to the Hokage Tower in Sasuke's day-dreaming face.

_'A siren's song is the sweetest sound of all.' _Sasuke dreaded the coming days with the intuitive shiver that crawled up his spine.

* * *

Patience was a virtue that Sasuke had a considerable amount of; the same could not be said for Naruto.

Fidgeting with the end of his black shirt, he growled and turned to Sasuke, "Why'd she get us up here if she was only gonna make us stand around all afternoon!" He let go of his shirt and waved his arms at the door to the Hokage's office like a deranged humming-bird, "This better be important, old hag!"

Sasuke and Naruto were waiting in the hall outside of the Hokage's main office. Sasuke sat on a chair with one leg crossed over the other and his arms linked, hands on opposite elbows, over his chest. Naruto was pacing the width of the hallway, turning around only when his toes hit the wall he was walking towards. If this repetitive behaviour irritated Sasuke, he made no outward sign of it.

"Sasuke-teme, go knock on the door." Naruto ordered curtly.

Sasuke lazily rose an eyebrow as if to say, 'Did you say something?' Naruto huffed and rolled his eyes. He shoved his hands into his orange pants' pockets and leaned against the wall. He cracked his neck. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. He chewed on his lower lip. After approximately twenty more seconds of squirming, the young man reached his limit, "Gyah! I can't stand this! I'm going in."

Naruto was at the double doors within a few quick strides. He grabbed the handles and swung the doors open dramatically, "What are-!" That, followed by a sharp smack, was all Sasuke heard before he saw Naruto fall over backwards in the corner of his eye, crashing to the floor with a loud thump. Sighing heavily, Sasuke turned his head to survey the damage.

Flat on his back with a hand over his forehead, Naruto howled and squinted his eyes shut, "What the hell was _that_?!" He twisted his sore neck and looked behind him to see a thick manual lying on the floor: 'Medicinal Herbs of the Onitsumo Valley: Volume VII'. Naruto squawked indignantly,"You threw a _book_ at me?!"

"Get in here, kid!" An authoritative voice bellowed from within the room.

Sasuke rose his other eyebrow and looked from the wide open doors back to Naruto, who had made it into a sitting position and was currently prodding at his forehead tenderly. Deciding that roar to be their cue to step into the lion's den, lest they anger the beast any further, Sasuke replaced his neutral expression and stood fluidly. He straightened his dark blue shirt by pulling on each long sleeve once to flatten the wrinkles. Stepping towards Naruto, he held out his hand. Naruto continued cursing under his breath as he took the hand and hauled himself up without so much as a glance at Sasuke; he was far too consumed in his mutterings of promises of pain to a certain someone to notice Sasuke walk around behind him and crouch down to pick up the item that had clocked him only moments ago.

As Sasuke stood up and pivoted with the intention of entering the office by Naruto's side, he felt the urge to throw the book himself: Naruto was already leaning over the Hokage's – strangely uncluttered – desk and spitting in her face about the injustice of being woken in the middle of his personal siesta, on his only day-off that month no less, by a summon to attend a meeting that the instigator of said meeting herself delayed. Tsunade had chosen a nicely sized text to hurl at Naruto, and Sasuke entertained the thought that it must have been satisfying seeing it floor the nuisance ninja.

Against what he liked to think was his better judgment, Sasuke walked into Tsunade's office and placed the book on one of the many shelves he passed.

The Hokage Tower was visually an impressive building: tall, sturdy, richly coloured and well maintained, but it was the interior that affirmed the significance of the thing. Every floor was orderly and simply furnished. The atmosphere was comfortable, but professional. Large glass windows ensured that every floor was well-lit, and that included the entire top floor, on which the Hokage conducted business. The top floor consisted of two small function rooms, an expansive hall in which the administration would conduct business as a whole government, or the Hokage would hold formal conferences with representatives of foreign countries, a small meeting room that was decorated much less formally and reserved for meetings with individual citizens of Konoha, and, lastly, there was the main office. It was in this office that ninja of Konohagakure found themselves standing in to report to their Hokage. The furniture was all made of an old dark wood, but did not creak under strain. The carpet was a dull grey that soaked up the warmth of the sunlight coming in through the tall glass windows behind the Hokage's desk. Medical books and historical volumes filled the shelves that lined the walls, bound in leaf-based hard covers, pages of information and diagrams written in neat script. There were also filing cabinets along the walls and two specific such cabinets were located directly behind the Hokage's post. Two chairs, intended for guests, were stationed before the Hokage's desk; two others were on either side of the double doors. The walls were painted a warm cream colour that welcomed a person into the room. The air in the space was refreshing without being cold, and smelt clean but absent of the chemical scent of disinfectant. Overall, the office of Konoha's number one ninja was a potentially pleasant place.

Sasuke carefully assumed a seat in front of the Hokage's desk.

"_And_ I was having a great dream, too! And it _didn't_ have killer flying encyclopedias in it!!" Naruto screeched as he jumped up and down, hands still planted on the table.

"Your dreams are none of my concern. And will you stop _bouncing_ on my _table_, you brat!? You're seventeen, not twelve!!" Tsunade yelled at Naruto. Her brown eyes flashed with a healthy fire and her cheeks turned slightly red with the effort to rival Naruto's noise. This was how they showed each other they truly cared.

"I'll stop bouncing when you start explaining! What do ya want from the bastard and I?"

"'The bastard and me'." Sasuke corrected with a quiet assertion.

"Yeah, what he said." It was unclear as to whether or not Naruto had actually heard Sasuke, "We want answers!" And he banged his fist down onto hard wood one more time.

Something behind Tsunade's desk caught his eye and he snorted in jest, "You know, if you didn't drink so much you'd get grumpy a lot less." He nodded his head in the direction of the empty sake bottles, _'Seven of them. Hm, I'm seeing that number a lot lately.'_

In an attempt to soothe the pounding of her abused ears and hammering head, Tsunade worked circles into her temples with her fingertips. She eyed Sasuke surreptitiously before attempting to change the subject, "Glad to see you're getting along well."

"And why wouldn't we?" Naruto challenged, "The bastard and I go like eggs and sake!"

"'The bastard and me'."

"What a disgusting combination." Tsunade was unimpressed and didn't bother to hide it. She swallowed the putrid taste that image had left in her mouth and looked up with a warning glare aimed directly at Naruto, "Sit. Down."

Naruto scoffed and lost his angry tone to sarcasm, "Yeah, I'll just listen to every little thing you say." He stuck his tongue out childishly to punctuate his point. The point, however, was lost to all in the room. Including the charming blond.

"Naruto." He hadn't removed his gaze from the blue sky visible outside the window before him, but Sasuke was intent on calming Naruto down.

The aforementioned one swiveled to stare at Sasuke and, with tongue still hanging out of mouth, executed a sloppy, "Wha?"

_'How eloquent.'_ Tsunade leaned her chin on one hand while her elbow rested on her desk, a piece of shorter blond hair falling over the shoulder that had shifted. Inwardly, she was marveling at the exchange going on before her. If nothing else, she was relieved with the way things had turned out after the long years of tension and uncertainty. Sasuke's defection and the events surrounding had caused unimaginable stress and nearly brought an end to Konoha itself. Everyone had been influenced by the most recent period of trouble, in various ways, but Tsunade had seen no one more affected than Naruto. She had first met him when he was a boy filled with passion and determination. She had watched him become a young man fueled by desperation. She became attached to Naruto, the one who remained dedicated to a goal until it was reached, no matter how unlikely, and she had watched him suffer the worst betrayal: that of a trusted friend and treasured teammate. Naruto had been destroyed, broken entirely but for one shred of hope. With only that shred to cling to, he righted all the wrongs and changed history. He had saved lives. He had saved the person who had made him suffer like no one ever should.

On days where she took Naruto aside and asked him a wary question or two, he would insist that she didn't understand the whole story, that she couldn't understand it. He also advised her not to hope that she ever would. Tsunade would nod and send him on his way, knowing that all was well but feeling as though she should always check. Just in case. In case of what, she wasn't sure, but she prayed that her paranoia was groundless. When Naruto pleaded with her to drop her questions, he did so with a carefree grin, and that was what made Tsunade feel that what she thought was betrayal had been forgiven.

Naruto was no fool. He was not the idiot that his lighthearted attitude made him out to be. That boy had had courage and was truthful. This young man knew what was important and had succeeded in securing it. Tsunade would go as far as to say that Naruto was the most intelligent, honest person she had ever had the good fortune to meet. To her personal elation, she not only met him, but was accepted as one of his most precious people.

It was obvious to her that the only people who understood Sasuke's situation were Naruto and Sasuke himself. And because Naruto was capable, not at all a fool, she trusted him to be able to handle that situation.

Watching the two adolescents before her now and feeling the atmosphere that manifested from their being together, Tsunade knew her worry stemmed from sisterly protectiveness over Naruto, and not a sense of impending danger from Sasuke, _'He always looks so uncaring, but I know that's not the case.' _

Some would argue that Sasuke wouldn't even bat an eyelash at the coming of the end of the world. Tsunade knew better: it was true he didn't care about the world everyone else was so fixated on – he had forgotten what he loved about it – but he would crumble to less than nothing if _his_ world collapsed. And she knew for a fact that his world consisted solely of the bright ball of sunshine she considered her brother. Naruto was the only reason that Sasuke was still breathing. She smiled.

"But Saaaasukeeee!" She grimaced. High-pitched whining broke the Hokage's reverie. Tsunade shook her head slightly and pulled the wayward strand of blond hair behind her ear, securing it into the beginning of a pigtail. Apparently Naruto had retracted his tongue back into his mouth.

"Naruto." Sasuke repeated, deep voice heavy with expectation permeating the air. This time he moved his eyes to catch Naruto's own.

"I have a duty to inform my Hokage of unsatisfactory conduct in my village. This counts." Naruto nodded resolutely and crossed his arms, fingertips becoming hidden under the edges of his short sleeves, looking defiantly at the seated male.

Seeing that words and intangible projection of increasing aggravation would not make Naruto sit down, Sasuke reverted to his last resort.

He held out his hand to Naruto.

Naturally, if not out of curiosity then concern, Naruto reached his own hand out to Sasuke's – this act had become a constant between them. Neither remembered how or when it started, and couldn't explain why they were compelled to do it, but they also didn't waste time wondering.

As soon as Sasuke felt Naruto's hand in his, he gripped and tugged. Naruto promptly fell into the seat behind him.

"Fwup!" An undignified sound emitted from Naruto's throat as he was tugged down.

"Many thanks, Uchiha." Tsunade thanked him with a small amused smile, lips turning upwards at the corners of her mouth.

"Sasuke." The black-haired youth told her with a blank stare and empty voice.

That was the other thing that Tsunade guessed she shouldn't hope to comprehend: Sasuke now refused to be recognised by his family name. She hadn't breached the topic with Naruto but was not intending to, either. Sasuke had lodged a formal request to be legally acknowledged by first name only, and that was all she wanted to know of it. Caring about such a detail only made her head hurt more and her want for alcohol and a few poker chips swell.

"Excuse me, please." She chastised herself politely.

Sasuke only nodded.

"Yeah, so, back to the point of all this." The attention span of a child and regard for custom unique to himself won over Naruto's speech.

"If you'd shut your mouth and quit your gas-bagging, I might actually get to it some time." Tsunade ground out.

"I'll stop talking if you _start_ talking about _important_ things." Naruto huffed, enjoying his banter with the woman just that little bit more since she seemed willing to play along.

"Sasuke, where's that book?"

Naruto paled a fraction and inched his chair closer to Sasuke's, really only to make sure he didn't suddenly acquiesce to Tsunade-hag's indirect request.

Seeing she had gained the attention she sought, Tsunade began, "Ok," she took a breath, briefly closing and opening her eyes to rid her cheeks of the last remnants of pink, "Firstly, I apologise for the late start to this meeting; it couldn't be helped. Secondly, thankyou for your prompt arrival." Her eyes switched from Naruto's wide ones to Sasuke's bored gaze. Tsunade was pleased to find she was unaffected by the stare, "I have summoned the two of you here to discuss a very important matter, something that has never happened before, and therefore must be taken in all seriousness and considered carefully."

At this point, Naruto had discarded his playful demeanor in favour of an open ear and attentive mind. It wasn't everyday that Tsunade spoke to him with such a tone; she seemed unsure of herself and there was an almost undetectable tremor in her voice. But Sasuke and Naruto both caught it.

"I have been addressed by a powerful individual," she let this prepare the floor for her next sentence, "and this individual has requested the two of you specifically." She paused.

A long moment of silence stretched uneasily between shallow breaths.

"Specifically for what?" Naruto prodded.

"You have been requested," Tsunade tried again, not quite believing what she was saying, "to travel between worlds, in order to prevent the total destruction of another place, similar to that which we narrowly escaped." She articulated each word and trained her hardened brown eyes onto those of each youth in turn.

She waited.

Neither had fainted, Sasuke had not walked out of the room, and Naruto had not begun laughing. All were good signs.

Naruto had not paled. Sasuke hadn't either, that she could tell. Both sat as they had moments before.

Still, she waited.

Naruto blinked. Then Sasuke blinked.

And she couldn't wait any longer.

"Well?" Her voice sounded mildly confused, as if she were clueless as to what to expect from them. And she was.

Naruto felt as though he was at the eye of a storm – he was calm and unmoving, but everything bordering his immediate position was chaotic. At the same time, he felt oddly disconnected from the entire thing. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not even focussed on the information he had been given – Sasuke was focussed on Naruto. His sharp senses registered the sudden tension in Naruto's hands that gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in, and the emotions racing through his best friend's sky blue eyes. Blue like the sky should be on a cloudless day.

_'The sky should be cloudless.' _Thoughts from earlier that day resurfaced in his mind. Automatically moving his head to the front again, away from Naruto, Sasuke looked out through the windows and into a sky of grey clouds. Thick grey clouds.

A flock of birds crossed his line of vision. He counted seven in all. Seven birds flying across a sky of thick grey clouds.

His breath hitched in his throat.

With a smooth movement, Tsunade stood from her seat, "Time for both of you to meet our client."

"I have always hated that word: 'client'." It was an indistinct voice that spoke.

Naruto whirled around in his seat to look at the place where he thought the voice had come from. Such a strange resonance to it, he wasn't sure of the age, gender or location of the person, _'I didn't even hear the door open..'_ he marveled.

Sasuke also turned, but only after standing to take a step forward, slightly shielding Naruto in the process.

Neither of them was sure of what they saw standing before the closed door of Tsunade's office. It could be described as a black shape, formless really, but there nonetheless. A moment later, the thing became a definite figure, tall with curves. If Naruto squinted, he was sure he could see the features of a person where the face should be in the absolute blackness. When Sasuke tilted his head to the right, he was convinced he could make out the outline of an arm against the mass it was attached to.

Gradually, the darkness ebbed away, fading into the air around its origin.

"Sasuke, Naruto, meet Miss Mikado." Tsunade walked around her desk and towards the figure, which had now become a mature woman, almost as tall as Sasuke himself.

Her skin was fair and her hair was red, a waterfall of crimson blood flowing down her back in waves and ending at her waist. Her large eyes shone with curiosity, green like the emerald glass of fine wine bottles. Lips that rested below her thin nose were not drawn into a frown, nor curved into a smile, and were the same deep red as her hair. Not a blemish or scar marked her visible skin. She wore a long black skirt over her curvaceous hips that grazed the grey carpet like a curtain and gleamed like polished crocodile scales, though of a soft material. Several thin chains adorned her neck, shining silver and luminous gold, to which strange pendants of unfamiliar symbols were attached. These rested upon her shapely chest, which was covered to the collar bone by a long chemise, ebony with sleek black ribbon threaded through the hems of the bell-shaped sleeves that let only her wine-red nails show past the ribbon. At a quick flick of her wrist, her long fingers were shown to be wearing at least one silver ring each. Some seemed very plain at first glance while others were inset with stones as vibrantly coloured as her hair. With the arrival of this woman came the scent of cloves and red roses – both thinly smoky and daringly, deceptively sweet. As she stood on tip-toe, held her skirt and bowed deeply, never lowering her eyes, her feet were revealed to be bare and tattooed with strangely elegant curling designs of the blackest ink. Her palms carried similar markings.

This person existed in an invisible cloud of magnificent godly aura.

If it weren't for her kind and sincere stare that accompanied the impressive esteem that seemed to stream from her, Sasuke would have loosened the kunai secured to his black pants already. He was a civilian with rights to carry arms, after all.

"Please, Tsunade-sama, I would prefer that we not think of this as such an arrangement, if you don't mind." Naruto startled at the voice. It was richly deep for a woman, almost effortlessly seductive, but at the same time innocent and light. It had changed as her shape had changed.

"Of course, Miss Mikado." Tsunade smiled politely and easily relaxed in the woman's presence. Naruto was awed by that, as well.

Sasuke was suspicious.

Mikado turned to Sasuke, a strand of liquid ruby fell across her right eye, splitting the emerald in two, "I am Mikado. Please, address me as such. I would very much like to address you as Sasuke. May I do so?" She bowed again, this time lowering her eyes to the space of floor in front of Sasuke.

The young man was momentarily torn between remaining silent or agreeing without a second thought. Somehow, he felt there was nothing adverse about the woman. In fact, it was the heavy feeling of warm splendor she exuded that comforted him, like falling into an enormous feather pillow and settling into a calm, deep sleep. But it was in his nature to question even himself. She looked dangerous: she carried fire in her hair, lips and nails, a forest in her eyes; she pierced the soul with the steadiness of her gaze and wore the colour of oblivion. Sasuke mused to himself, _'She's like a walking contradiction: she looks entirely different to how she acts and speaks.'_

He eventually decided to give the permission, "I am Sasuke. You may address me as such." Sasuke returned the bow shallowly and with his eyes trained on Mikado, but returned it nevertheless.

"And you, Naruto; may I also address you as such?" She smiled genuinely and Naruto smiled back.

"Sure, call me Naruto, Miss Mikado." He answered confidently while gesturing to himself, voice strong as he straightened from his perch on the chair and breached the small gap to stand beside Sasuke. It seemed that the golden warmth people often felt radiating from Naruto met with Mikado's own glow comfortably.

The smile remained, "Please, Mikado is fine. As I said, I dislike the idea that I should be your 'client', and you 'hired' by me," she frowned a little, as though disapproving of the very suggestion that any such relationship be formed, "I would like for you to help me of your free will, and thereby be willing to become comrades."

Not at all complaisant for the sake of others, Sasuke gave Naruto a glance that he knew the other would understand. Naruto nodded once and looked back to Mikado, "We'd be willing to help any cause that we agree with, in this case."

It was common for a ninja to be assigned a mission that he or she did not support in any way, but Naruto was apparently being given a choice in this case and was loath to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. Sasuke, no longer a ninja himself, was secretly delighted to hear that Naruto would not be forced to do something he found despicable. He understood too well what it was like to look his reflection in the eye the next morning, and start to shake because he knew it wasn't a dream.

If he was to go on this mission with Naruto, and had the power to decide it, he would make sure it was an agreeable one.

Mikado stepped forward. Like a feather floating on a breeze, her feet seemed to glide on pure air. She made her way across the room. Sasuke maintained an impassive façade while his mind's jaw almost dropped in awe. Naruto was not so controlled. His eyes were fixed on Mikado's feet, unabashedly staring at the way they hovered above the floor.

At the moment she stopped, Naruto looked up to her face and noticed, for the first time, the dark shadows encircling her eyes. It reminded him of the way Sasuke's eyes looked after a string of sleepless nights, though it could simply have been make-up as there was only a thin line under her eyes, while the greater amount showed above them. Suddenly, at this close proximity, with the woman standing only an arm's length away, he was overcome with a peculiar revelation.

Mikado was something great. Unimaginable.

This woman held power. To acknowledge that about someone and to actively _feel_ it were two very different things.

And Sasuke felt it, too. The same shiver from only a few hours ago prickled up and down his spine and he knew that Mikado was the source of it all: the other-worldly reflection, the bewitching music, the panic impulse he had felt when he had captured Naruto's hand and hauled him the entire rest of the way to the Hokage Tower. All of it.

Mikado was a thing unmeasurable.

But something puzzled him: Sasuke had felt something ominous at the occurrence of these things, indeed he had felt uneasy for the duration of the day, but it was not necessarily something that was caused by Mikado's devices.

"What are your intentions?" ventured Sasuke, in a voice much more certain than he felt.

With a tilt of her head and an intelligent sparkle in her eye that spoke of the wisdom of aeons, Mikado grinned minutely, "I am afraid that thorough comprehension of this situation requires the explanation of those more closely linked to it. I can, however, brief you of the circumstances and the role I hope for you to fulfill." Her gaze became honestly hopeful, "Your decision must be made hastily, and I apologise for this, it could not be helped. You will need to answer me now. You will not have time to return to your homes before we depart, should you agree."

Sasuke made no response. Naruto stood straighter and squared his shoulders. He cleared his throat and answered for the both of them, "Tell us."

"Thankyou." Mikado relaxed her own shoulders and drew one hand up in front of her. A soft whoosh was heard as she breathed out heavily. With a swift motion, she let her hand fall in a swiping drop. Where her hand and forearm had touched the air was now a hazy image. Naruto openly gaped at the incredible painting suspended in thin air. It was colourful, with greens, blues, reds and whites. A moment later, it had cleared considerably and a town had become distinguishable. A small hill stood in the middle of the picture, surrounded by roads and white-blocked houses, with a large white structure standing atop of it. Golden spires reached towards the clouded sky and small black dots moved about the white walls. Sasuke squinted; those weren't dots, they were people.

_'That's a real town.. those are real people.'_ His dark eyes scanned the roads full of townspeople milling about, sentinels marching up and down open-air halls in the largest white building.

"This town is the capital of a world that is in great peril. The hill in the centre is called Sukai no Tsuka, the Mound of the Sky, meeting point between the Heavens and the Earth of that world." Mikado spoke clearly and with infinite authority; the images began to change into a phantasmagoria of scenes of everyday life, "The emperor of this world has been welcomed into chaos in his first year of royal position. He must fight an enemy that he has never met; an enemy that he cannot see, cannot sense; he must fight blind and he does not know how." Here, her voice hardened and a streak of something electrifying crashed through her eyes, "Even _with_ such sight, he would not succeed."

Naruto's eyes lifted from scrutinising the image and locked with Mikado's. She continued, while boring into his skull with her meaningful gaze, "If the emperor engages in battle as he is, this entire world will be destroyed."

Sasuke almost shuddered at the foreboding tone she released. Naruto spoke seriously, "What _is _this thing and why can't he fight it?"

Mikado smiled sadly as she dispersed the image by moving a hand through it; the haze twirled quickly and then began to fade, "The malevolent force occupying that world has accumulated strength over one thousand years." She didn't hesitate for her own sake, but paused in order to convey a silent apology to her listeners for her next words, "This force inhabited the worst minds of countless worlds throughout the history of all things, during roughly the equivalent of the last one thousand years in your world."

Naruto's eyes pleaded with Mikado to continue.

Her smile was lost and her eyes became glassy, a sign that she was shielding herself from the situation at hand, "That force inhabited the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru."

It was at this point that Sasuke stopped breathing.

Naruto's head whipped around to Tsunade, who was still standing behind and off to the side of Mikado, "What do you mean?" He asked into the air, willing to accept an answer from anyone.

She raised her eyes from looking at the floor and he finally saw how tired she was, "It's true, Naruto. Mikado has shown me unquestionable proof."

Naruto did all he could to keep his temper under control; still, he seethed, "That scaly bottom-feeder is _dead_. We-" Naruto's eyes widened as if he had abruptly remembered something very important.

"...not true." Sasuke's voice, still deep but trembling, cut past Naruto as the accusation assaulted Mikado, "You're lying."

"I assure you, I would not so much as think the name in your presence if that spirit had not been in him." The woman spoke clearly as before, though more detachedly now. It seemed that she had decided to treat the issue with as little emotion as possible, perhaps in order to avoid misunderstanding.

She cast an apologetic glance to Tsunade – she knew of her past with the man. Tsunade just shook her head; she had made peace with her past as much as she could. She had watched her teammate change and understood that his heart really was bad, but was quietly thankful to Mikado for letting her know of the contributors to the transformation.

"The illness that helped Orochimaru achieve what he did did not originate here; it is like a virus that enters a world, attempts to destroy it, and moves on to the next, whether successful or not."

"_Do not_ try to pin that monster's actions on anything else but himself!" Hot breath rushed past Sasuke's teeth as he snarled and shot forward.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto had come between Sasuke and Mikado, holding his dearest friend back by the shoulders, "She didn't do anything wrong, she's coming to us for help, she has nothing to do with what he did to.. you..." Naruto trailed off in his attempts to calm Sasuke.

No one else but Naruto knew what had happened. Sasuke had liked it that way. He was the only one with the right to know.

"What gives you the _right_ to come here and ask for _anything _on the grounds of that _bastard_?" A fleck of saliva spurted from his tongue as he spat the words with malice reserved solely for the man who had played the role of Temptation in his life. The man whom he hated most. The man whom he had killed.

"You must not only hear, you must understand me, Sasuke." Mikado took a small step towards him. He leaned forward against Naruto like a vicious dog baring its teeth to an intruder on its territory. Mikado's countenance stayed sober and she spoke in a kind whisper, "_He_ is not alive. The spirit which infested his body and his mind is. This spirit allowed the evil in Orochimaru's original heart to develop uninhibited by _anything_. Orochimaru was twisted by default, but this force that chose him gave him the power to overcome everything short of you and Naruto."

Naruto blinked at that. Sasuke's eyes slid to Naruto's and then to the hands that held his arms tightly. He immediately leaned back, as if burned by the touch, "Naruto..." He had not wanted to react so violently.

"It's ok, it's ok. We're alright." Naruto said it distantly, too fixated on Mikado's statement to perceive Sasuke's worry.

It was a smile both appreciative and adoring that graced Naruto as he turned around.

_'Like the smile of a mother...'_ He imagined that was what it would be like, not being able to remember his own mother. Or whether or not she had ever smiled at him.

For the first time during their meeting, the warmth of Mikado's aura seemed to glow faintly in her green eyes. She spoke to both young men, "And that is why I have chosen you."

Mikado motioned for Tsunade to come into the conversation again, "Tsunade-sama, if you would, please reveal what I have to you."

Tsunade nodded and held her chin high as the Hokage of the Fire Country, as she stood beside a Goddess. Alcohol be damned, she needed clarity for this, "Naruto, Sasuke," blue and black eyes darted to her own, "Mikado came to me this morning with the information you've just heard. You're going to be accompanying her to the world she's shown you and work as a part of a team of seven-"

Naruto interrupted Tsunade's instructions with an excited burst of, "Seven, Sasuke, seven!"

"-against the enemy." Tsunade finished lamely, grumbling and looking through half-lidded eyes at Naruto.

Sasuke knew what Naruto was referring to – he'd noticed that number appear to him three times that day – but chose not to react to his friend's exclamation.

The Hokage sent Naruto a threatening look, which he obviously took to mean certain pain, for he promptly pouted and glared at her playfully. Tsunade continued, "To validate her story, Mikado has illustrated for me the curse seal that was Orochimaru's trademark."

Sasuke fought the urge to cover the junction of his shoulder and neck with his hand. He tried hard not to think about that disgraceful marking. All the while, not a sign of this internal struggle showed on his face. He was still too stunned at his outburst to be able to do anything but wonder why he had reacted at all. He thought he'd been finished with it all. He thought he'd decided not to let the past affect his future, his new life. It seemed that all that changed the moment he thought he'd failed in making Orochimaru his past.

"She also recounted the movements of Orochimaru while he was still alive. She explained things that only an omniscient being could describe," her eyes became sure and she mused that she was finally coming to terms with this entire mess, "and she pledged by blood that her story is true."

Naruto raised one eyebrow, not entirely convinced. A blood-pledge was a tactic used to discern whether or not a person was lying when in custody. It was used on very seldom occasion by ninja, seeing as it required withdrawal of blood. Drawn from the person in question, the blood was dripped into the centre of a unique spell seal. Should the script of that seal, written in the querent's own blood, become blue, the lie would be revealed. Should the script remain unchanged, only truth had been told. This technique relied on the fact that chakra, spiritual energy converted to aid physically, ran through the blood stream and carried spiritual, and therefore mental, elements within it.

The querent's blood carried the question, and the suspect's blood the answer.

"It's not like you to accept something like _this_ by a blood-pledge." Naruto thought aloud. Although a reliable method, Tsunade was more inclined to hard evidence.

"Her blood is black." Tsunade's voice was tinted by awe. Sure enough, Naruto now took note of a small vile half full of liquid settled on the filing cabinet behind Tsunade's desk. His mouth became an incredulous 'o' as he took note of the unmistakable colour.

Sasuke had been scrutinising Mikado, trying to find a way in which he could establish the validity of her awesome tale for himself. He had heard the fables in which the blood of a God was meant to be the darkest of blacks and as thick as oil, but that did not mean he trusted it was true. All stories had an origin, yes, but he fancied the extreme to stem from extreme imagination.

"I don't believe it." He declared in a flat tone and crossed his arms.

"I see I must do all I can to have you accept me." Mikado's face was serene as it had been for the majority of the meeting, "I can bleed a thousand wells of blood for you and remain as alive as I ever was and as you see me here before you. What would you have me do?" She gently spread her arms out on either side of her in a submissive gesture.

Considering the options that came to mind, Sasuke chose one at random; he had no patience to be strategic, "A God is said to be able to create at whim, destroy at whim, control at whim. Create something right now that is real."

Mikado did not smile. She didn't say a word. She only held out her right hand and paused. She studied Sasuke's uninterested face. In an instant, an apple materialised in the palm of her hand. Sasuke glanced cautiously between her and the apple.

"Is this not what you were thinking of?" She asked without really asking; she knew the answer.

Sasuke had had the image of an apple in mind when he asked for something real.

"Try it." Now she smiled, a pleasant curve that decorated her face, "It is real."

Sasuke carefully reached out and plucked the offered fruit from her tattooed palm. He examined it, smelt it, and tentatively took a bite from it. Naruto looked on, his 'o' mouth still perfectly in place.

Sasuke chewed and swallowed. He glimpsed at Naruto and noticed the stupid look on the idiot's face. He couldn't resist.

"Huph?" Naruto now held the apple in his mouth by the suction of his lips.

"It's real." Sasuke offered nonchalantly.

Naruto glared past the fruit but began to eat it anyway. Tsunade had also interrupted his afternoon snack-time.

"Am I deemed credible?" Mikado asked.

"Credible, but not trustworthy." Sasuke admitted.

"Excellent." It was all Mikado needed.

With a graceful pivot, the red-haired Goddess bowed deeply to Tsunade and thanked her, "Tsunade-sama, your aid has undoubtedly saved my children. I can never repay you for such a thing, however I pledge to come to your side in future times of need that would otherwise end in this world's defeat." Mikado had no want to speak lightly – she would not fight every battle for Konoha to return the favour, but she would give them a second chance at a prolonged history if it became threatened.

"Children?" Naruto interrupted again.

"The people of that world regard me as their sole God." Mikado said it with a smile, as if it was nothing very important. It just was.

Naruto choked, _'__**Sole**_ _God?'_

Tsunade cleared her throat to admonish the manners of her favourite ninja; she had only one thing to say, "I don't expect anything but that these two come back safely. They mean more to me than anything else." She made sure to catch Sasuke's eyes while saying that. She needed him to go on this mission knowing that someone other than Naruto cared for him. He would be welcomed on his return.

Naruto whooped loudly and slung an arm around Sasuke's neck, the amulet on his necklace bouncing and clinking against the beads either side with the action, "All right! Best mission ever, here we come! Can ya believe it, bastard? We get to go on a mission together again!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a good-natured scowl on his face. Naruto knew which scowls were happy scowls.

And Sasuke liked it that way.

* * *

The three stood in one of the two function rooms on the top floor of the Hokage Tower. Naruto and Sasuke looked to Mikado expectantly; they weren't at all sure how to prepare themselves for a mission assigned by a God. In all honesty, neither had quite grasped the situation as of yet.

"We must leave, now." Mikado had given Tsunade a moment too many to concrete the notion of caution in Naruto's brain. She wondered briefly if maybe Naruto would have appreciated her dragging him away sooner.

Sasuke considered it a moment too few.

"Owww... Damn, she hits hard." The blue-eyed boy rubbed his newest battle wounds. Tsunade had also given Naruto a fierce hug and bopped him once to let him know how much she'd miss him. She had showed them to the function room and then said her farewells, bidding them a safe journey and speedy return.

Sasuke just looked at Naruto and waited.

"Eh, ok. So, how are we getting to where we're goin'?" Naruto spoke for the both of them again.

"It is simple. You must close your eyes and relax. Do not fear the feeling of weightlessness. Do not panic. Do not speak. Do not move away." These guidelines were given with a kind tone.

Naruto made a face, "That's an awful lot of 'don't's.. So, what _do_ we do?" He asked for clarification.

Mikado tilted her head and brought her hands together before her chest in a prayer-like gesture, "Close your eyes and relax." She repeated patiently. She straightened her neck and regulated her breathing.

"Ok! Let's go!" Naruto hid his uncertainty with a boisterous shout.

"And now, eyes closed..." Mikado instructed the two before she inhaled, then exhaled slowly. Her breath flowed forth like an icy mist through the ring her scarlet lips formed, gently sinking to the floor and coating their feet in fog. The coolness engulfed them like an early morning frost. Naruto shivered and tried his best to relax, making sure his eyes stayed securely shut. He spread his chakra out over his surroundings to gain bearing and reassure himself. Confidence restored, he was ready for whatever came next.

A hand closed over his own.

Ready for almost anything that came next. Without opening his eyes, Naruto angled his head to the right, certain that Sasuke was the one holding his hand. It was difficult to ignore it this time, with the absence of visual distractions offered in a busy street and the consequent amplified warmth radiating between his hand and Sasuke's. He began to feel light and wondered at the sensation. Again, he felt like he was at the eye of a storm; the world was spinning – faster, faster – but he remained grounded.

Sasuke had shuffled the few paces to his left to close the distance between himself and his friend before the spinning started. For some inexplicable reason, it was one of those moments where he felt the need to find contact with Naruto; one of those instances that neither remembered the first of, and neither felt obliged to make sense of.

In the next instant, the weightless feeling had passed and everything had become still. Sasuke listened carefully for any indication that the strange travel was over. He heard a small creak of wood and what he thought to be a child's whisper, unintelligible from where he was. The air felt damper than it had moments ago. An earthy smell hung in the air, though it was not overbearing.

"We have arrived." Mikado's smooth voice supplied.

Naruto and Sasuke opened their eyes and squinted into the dim lighting of the room they had apparently appeared in. It looked strangely like the inside of a hollowed out tree: all walls and the floor were formed of a red-brown wood, the sectioned rings creating patterns not to be found on any wall-paper, tile or carpet. The ceiling was not visible. As Naruto looked up he stared into a never-ending darkness. He would have made an awed expression if he wasn't afraid that Sasuke might stick something to his face again.

The Goddess stood before them, her hands clasped and her eyes glistening with thinly veiled excitement, "Naruto, Sasuke, I have chosen you. Welcome." She stepped aside and gestured with a sweeping arm, "The four before you are your comrades in this story. Please, treat each other well."

Naruto stepped forward, sliding his hand from Sasuke's, and grinned toothily at the people before him, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, ninja and future Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." His smile broadened and he stood proudly.

Before joining Naruto on centre stage, Sasuke surveyed the group seated before him about a round wooden table. Directly in front of him and to his immediate left were empty seats. The next seat to the left was also vacant. In the first occupied chair, when moving clockwise, sat a man, large and muscular with a face weathered by years of difficulty. Next to him sat a woman, younger than the man but older than Sasuke himself, with the countenance of a warrior princess: beautiful and disciplined. Beside her was a young boy, much younger than Sasuke judging by his slight build and round eyes. The last in the circle was a girl, probably only a couple of years younger than himself; her eyes shone with a predatory glaze as she stared openly at him. Sasuke restrained himself from jerking backwards.

"I am Sasuke." And that was all he would say.

Mikado's deeply seductive voice purred while still sounding authoritative, something beautiful, "Naruto, Sasuke. This man is Weith Tondril of Muerta, southern Kida, northern Kima." She lifted a hand to signal softly at the eldest at the table, and the man named Weith nodded brusquely. She turned to the woman beside him, "This is Carmine Leucas of Sukai Mound." The woman smiled pleasantly. "This is Hatsu Esteon, also of Sukai Mound." Hatsu nodded once with the bearing of a noble, but Naruto saw something else in his eyes. "And this is Emery, queen of the street kingdom." The girl, Emery, grinned appreciatively and winked at Mikado. She twitched her nose, something Sasuke deemed to be a nervous habit.

Mikado smiled affectionately at the four before saying, "Please, Naruto, Sasuke, take a seat." Naruto took Sasuke's forearm and strode forward. He happily seated himself and pulled Sasuke down next to him. Luckily for Sasuke, Naruto had noticed his discomfort with the teenage girl and dumped him in the empty seat next to her.

_'Idiot.'_

Standing suddenly to the right of Weith, Mikado made an elegant motion as if to pour liquid from a jug in her left hand into a glass in her right. As the invisible pitcher tipped, water began to stream into her hand, but did not fall through. Naruto let loose a quiet sound of wonder. The water climbed as if contained by a cylindrical barrier, and by the time she was done pouring Mikado was holding a crystal clear glass of cold water in her right hand. She set it down smoothly in front of Weith and smiled politely. Weith stared at her and then at the glass, not looking entirely shocked. He shrugged and picked it up, throwing back his head and downing half of the contents. Lowering the glass, he sighed at the refreshing feel trickling down his throat. Mikado nodded, self-satisfied, and proceeded to repeat the actions for every other guest.

When she was done, she moved her arm from the elbow in a rotating motion, as if swirling the contents of the invisible jug around. As she swirled it, the glass of the container began to become apparent. Soon complete, she set it down on the table and silently bid it to move to centre of its own accord. It was also full, "Help yourselves, it will not drain."

A melodious hum from Mikado summoned flame to the chandelier above the table, hanging from a thick chain that disappeared into the expansive darkness above, with only her voice and a twist of her wrist. Sasuke remembered the haunting tune that Naruto had pointed out to him that afternoon in front of the vacant store window.

Mikado excused herself momentarily, "Please excuse me while I search for the last of the seven. He has a terrible tendency to dismiss my summons as trifles." Never once losing the grace that seemed to pervade her entire being, the woman stepped lightly out of the room through a tall doorway of carved cherry wood, her black skirt trailing silently behind her bare feet.

The room shimmered with an ethereal ambiance.

Weith folded his arms onto the table top and spoke with a shrug, "Well, I'm jazzed."

* * *

**Teaser for Chapter 6: Pretty Porcelain Doll: **

"Wait, so.. this place is Mikado..."

"Not this place."

"...and she's Mikado..."

"That she is."

"...and you're Mikado..."

"I am."

"But, wait, I... wha- Sasuke, _help me!!_"

* * *

Chapter 5 is fiiiiiniiiiished! Wow, I worked SO hard on this one... It took over 12 hours of writing and about 6.5 hours of editing. _dies_ And my right eye is hurting.. very badly.. Too much computer screen! As if there is such a thing _grins_ ...

Ok, I have a question: Is this length for a chapter all right?

I figure that my chapters should be on the shorter side since I seem to exhaust people with my style (some people have said that they get tired when they read my material), so I tend to believe it would be better if my chapters were shorter in future. I know I put lots of information into my writing, but for some reason I'm having trouble changing anything that comes into this fic originally...

Any comments on how I can improve are greatly appreciated!


	6. Pretty Porcelain Doll

**Chapter Title: **'VI. Pretty Porcelain Doll'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author: **Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre: **Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humour  
**Warnings: **Swearing; injuring by book; introduction of Emery's psyche; bad (unintended) puns (can _you_ spot them?)  
**Rating:** T  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter ****Summary:** The fellowship begin to talk, Sasuke makes a friend, and Aldehyde makes his dynamic entrance.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters, setting and root storyline of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** I've been trying to change my style a little to make things go, perhaps, a little faster, or, to make it a bit simpler to read... I've discovered that that is the only truly impossible thing to do in this world -.-'. It's just not working for me to alter anything, so I'm going to let it be as it comes. I'm not unhappy with the fact, I'm just a little puzzled. s_hrugs_ Maybe I have less control over this one than I thought ;P. Oh, I've been asked about yaoi in this story – there will be shounen-ai but nothing very graphic or serious (first time chapter-fic NarutoxSasuke – I'm too much of a shy prude to go very far). So, yeah! Any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, please enjoy chapter 6 of 'MiKADo'. :D

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**VI. Pretty Porcelain Doll**

**-**

It wasn't as though Naruto had seen few strange things in his life – he had had his fair share of queer – but this was something new entirely.

Naruto had just introduced himself to four people he did not know. All right, not so strange. These four people were from a foreign world that he didn't know the name of. A little unusual, but he'd travelled to places where no man had set foot before – he wasn't too worried about unfamiliar territory. He was sitting in a room formed of the interior of a monstrous tree, drinking water poured from a non-existent jug into a non-existent glass, by a Goddess whom he deemed both extremely dangerous and infallibly benevolent. That, he found unsettling.

He was tempted to laugh at his situation, but as he spied the gruff looking man across the table from him, Naruto decided it better just to grin.

Weith, Naruto recalled the name, looked back at him with boredom in his dark brown eyes. Taking a closer look when the man shifted his gaze back to his glass and wrapped a meaty hand around it, Naruto noticed that Weith's skin was indeed a tanned colour, and that it wasn't just the lighting of the room that made it seem so. He also had deeper frown lines than apparent at first glance, complete with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His hair was dark brown, shaggy with neglect and shot through with lone grey strands, a sign of his age. There was a shadow of black and white-grey stubble on his chin; Naruto unconsciously rubbed his own chin, wondering whether or not it would feel itchy at all. A large coffee-coloured shirt hung from Weith's muscular shoulders and the dirty sleeves were fitted to his wrists. His long brown pants were equally dirty, though slightly darker, looking almost as if scorched in places. A grey woven vest rested over his shirt and the sash-like loom of his culture was tied to his waist, also grey.

Naruto scrunched his nose a little. Although the man looked dirty and reeked of alcohol, it was his pose and indeed entire aura that had Naruto concerned; everything Naruto saw told him that Weith was in pain. A list of scenarios of tragic pasts raced through the ninja's mind, and as they did he attempted to see which belonged to Weith.

Emotionally, this man was as thoroughly drained as a dry desert well.

Naruto decided it would be better not to dwell on this, lest he make the man aware of his thoughts. He wasn't the sort to pity, but he was prone to compassion.

Forcing his eyes away, he now came to look at the eldest female at the table. Carmine was not in the least dirty, nor did she smell of cheap liquor. Her caramel tresses were let loose to spill over her back, all except two pieces that were pulled tightly from behind her ears to come together with a white tie at the level of the nape of her neck. Naruto wondered at the length of her hair – easily reaching the seat of her chair, even having to curl up on itself there – and was curious as to how she kept it so neat. Her head was turned towards the boy seated beside her, and so Naruto could only see half of her face, yet he saw enough to become entranced by the shine of her eyes. They were a bright topaz hue, gleaming with guardedness.

_'Maybe all the women in this place have beautiful eyes like that...' _Naruto couldn't help but remember the way Mikado's eyes had glinted like precious stones, not dissimilar to Carmine's. She was also relatively pale with fiery red lips, which suggested her to be an assertive type of a person, as far as appearance was concerned.

In the privacy of his mind, Naruto hoped he wouldn't have to deal with another Sakura.

Carmine wore a white dress much like a robe, with sleeves that tapered and clung to her hands, ending in a point at each of her middle fingers. All in all, this woman looked the part of the mistress of high society, particularly when considering the rigidity of her movements and hard stare sweeping down her nose.

However, Naruto saw kindness in her. A firm nature – no room for games – but there was also a suppressed joy in her eyes that seemed to beg to be released. Naruto almost smiled at the way Carmine was focussed on the young boy next to her.

Hatsu was a sight to behold. His blond hair shone like a halo with its almost-white shade of yellow and his pale complexion emphasized his dark eyelashes. Slight in build, with small hands and impossibly round eyes, the boy could have easily been mistaken for a girl. Like Carmine, Hatsu seemed to exude conflicting emotions. Naruto considered that Hatsu was not very confident and that would explain the way he kept glancing from person to person like a cornered rat. He did, however, panic rather gracefully: he didn't shrink back, his posture didn't allow for one wrinkle to develop in his immaculate clothing – every article the same purple – while his thin fingers curled delicately around the arms of the chair he sat in and his even nails digging into the wood grain without a sound.

He was experienced in hiding his discomfort.

The thing about the boy that intrigued Naruto most, was his eyes.

One was a spherical white canvas, painted with a round black centre and radiating strings of silver spider web. Like the veins around a healing bruise. The other was a void of limitlessly deep, dark violet.

Naruto became anxious from the way it seemed to draw him in, even though Hatsu wasn't looking at him directly, _'Maybe it's something like a bloodline limit.'_

Naruto turned to his right to ask Sasuke whether or not he had noticed, only to find his friend almost sitting in his lap. From the looks of things, Sasuke was trying his best to be discreet about getting as far away from the girl who was currently drinking him in with her eyes. Naruto stifled his laugh and twisted his head away in a flash when Sasuke turned to snarl at him.

It must have been uncomfortable for Sasuke, to be scrutinised so shamelessly by those stone grey eyes. Naruto felt Sasuke shift slightly closer and almost jumped as his hip grazed the other's, _'When did he move his chair so close?'_

His head whipped back of its own accord and Naruto saw Emery close up for the first time. Though her eyes were grey, they were animated and lively, dancing with a mischievous sparkle that made Naruto want to grin. For the sake of the parts of him that he knew Sasuke was already considering to confiscate, he kept his face straight.

Emery's hair was a shadowy grey, almost black, and nearly as long as Carmine's. It was tied up into a messy, high tail with bits and pieces sticking out in various directions with individual hairs spun around the tie so that it would be painful to pull out. Like Weith, Emery looked unclean: the pattern on her dress was indistinguishable underneath the grime that had collected over time, and the hem was torn into a slant, one side reaching past her knee while the other rested on her upper thigh. She wore a tattered coat, far too large for her lithe body, and torn stockings probably meant to keep her legs warm. She wore no shoes.

Despite the mud caked under her rough nails and the scabs that refused to heal on her elbow and knuckles, Emery was a fairly pretty girl with what Naruto deemed to be an amiable nature. She was obviously drawn to his best friend, but Naruto shrugged in his mind and asked himself, _'What girl isn't?'_

Speaking of Sasuke, Naruto was about to let him fall flat on his rump.

He whispered harshly, "Bastard, get off me!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Came the sharp reply.

Naruto hissed, "You're practically in my lap!!"

"Get used to it." Sasuke did not like that girl so close to him, let alone reaching bit by bit towards his kunai.

"Excuse me," a gentle yet unyielding voice asked for Emery's attention, "I have some boiled weeble cones with me, if you would like some." It was Hatsu who had spoken, holding out a small cloth bag towards Sasuke's newest bane. Sasuke glanced at Hatsu and nodded faintly in thanks to the boy for the diversion. Hatsu's cheeks became lightly dusted in pink.

"Et..." Emery made a small sound of curiosity, choosing to stare at the offered bag while still leaning precariously over Sasuke's side. She began to reach forward, hesitant and wide-eyed, before she looked up and then shot backwards into the seat of her chair.

Naruto saw Sasuke blink in confusion and did the same, _'What just happened?'_ He looked to Hatsu and saw a small frown on his face.

Hatsu had left his hand stretched towards the frightened girl, "Please, Emery-esteel, they are good. You would enjoy one?" He opened the bag with his free hand and proceeded to take out a small object. It was oddly formed and glassy in texture, like a misshapen marble that had been compressed into a roughly cone-like shape. It was also just as colourful as a marble; orange spliced with neon yellow and powdered with specks of lime green covered the surface of the foreign candy. Naruto found himself with an open mouth again.

This time, Sasuke was kind enough to just click his jaw shut with his left hand, "It's rude to stare, even more so to gape."

Naruto grappled for a successful retort, "I wasn't gaping, bastard!" And failed.

Emery had not lifted her eyes. She trained them on the floor and clutched her knees up to her chest, where she was perched on her chair. Her toes curled around the front edge of the seat and she began to comb through her hair with her fingers, "I- um..."

Hatsu smiled widely, "Come, you must like them. They are the best treats I've ever tasted!" And to prove his opinion, he put the edible marble into his mouth.

Emery looked over her knees like a captivated child, but never once met Hatsu's eyes with her own.

Hatsu offered the bag to Carmine. She reached inside and picked up a piece, this time a dusty pink with a powder pattern of aqua. She too put it in her mouth without hesitation. As she sucked on it, she looked to Emery and smiled encouragingly, "They are very sweet."

A prod at his foot caused Sasuke to lean back and look under the table, diverting his attention from the strange conversation.

Sitting in between his feet was a black cat. It pawed at his sandal, apparently not noticing that it was being watched.

Sasuke stared at it. He looked back up to Naruto, wondering what he was supposed to do about it. Unfortunately for him, the blond boy seemed engrossed in the semi-exchange between Emery and Hatsu. Not knowing what else to do, Sasuke moved his foot slightly. The cat paused. A moment later, Sasuke moved again. The cat jumped back and followed with its moon-yellow eyes. Sasuke pulled his foot along the floor, away from his audience. The cat stood up and padded after it, seemingly interested in the journey its source of entertainment was taking. Sasuke quickly swiped his foot to the side and lifted it over the feline – feline stopped, looked around, looked up, saw its toy and mewled.

Sasuke let out a quiet amused chuckle.

Unknown to him, Emery had finally accepted the offered candy with a shy, "Thankyou.. Mikado Hatsu... I appreciate... um..." she seemed entirely lost for words.

_'Hold on.. **Mikado **Hatsu?' _Sasuke was jerked from his distraction immediately.

"_Mikado _Hatsu?" Naruto announced his puzzlement to the room.

Everyone stopped and looked at the pair.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-esteel?" Hatsu inquired with a tilt of his head, deciding that it was time the unspoken barrier between realm-travellers was broken.

"Wah? 'Esteel'?" He shook his head to get back on topic and pointed a finger at Hatsu dramatically, "Why did she call you Mikado?"

Carmine stood from her chair and squared her shoulders to Naruto, "Do not show such disrespect. Lower your hand." Her firm voice washed over the occupants of the room, carrying with it a hidden threat.

"Disrespect? What else is the kid goin' to show?" Weith had joined with a sarcastic shrug of his shoulders and sardonic sneer.

All of a sudden, Emery pounced onto the table with inhuman agility, "Don't talk to them like that! He gave me candy!" Her voice squeaked and wavered with a tumult of emotion.

"Weeble cones shouldn't buy your allegiance." Weith said, not even looking in her direction, paying as little attention to the rabid girl as possible.

Naruto watched in surprise, hand still hovering over the table, not having anticipated that a simple question might instigate a brawl.

Emery bared her teeth and tested the spring in her feet, "He was nice to me! You can't be mean to him!" She shot forward and landed directly in front of the man's face, breathing hot breath that made his fringe flutter.

Weith's voice boomed as he turned to the girl now an inch away from him. It unnerved him.

"I can do, what I like!" His hands were up in the blink of an eye and he shoved Emery back by the shoulders.

He hadn't pushed hard enough to injure her, but Emery still rolled over backwards once and landed upright in her chair with a thunk. She blinked and twitched her nose, somehow seeming to have acquired an entirely different attitude in the last three seconds of her life.

"Hey, hey! Hold on! I didn't mean to start a fight!" Naruto waved his palms in front of him in a placating manner, hoping that this wouldn't escalate, "Let's not get violent, yeah?"

During the scene, the black cat had remained calm and found its way onto Sasuke's lap, now enjoying the young man's ministration to its ears. Likewise, Sasuke looked on with a blank expression, also calm in the face of chaos.

Naruto tried again, this time making sure to keep his hands under the table and out of sight, "I just wanted to know why Emery," he nodded to the girl and she grinned at him, obviously happy with the way he'd acknowledged her name, "called you Mikado; I thought that was the woman's name who brought us here." He lifted an eyebrow to punctuate his confusion.

With a motion of his head, Hatsu signalled to Carmine softly that she should reclaim her seat. Carmine did so without protest. Next he chanced a look at Weith and sighed when he saw the man had crossed his arms and was glaring in another direction. He made sure to catch Emery's eyes again, before she ducked her head in a gesture of obeisance.

"It is correct that Her name is Mikado." Hatsu spoke evenly, his voice somehow a note too low to match his appearance, "It is also correct that my title is Mikado."

Naruto looked utterly lost. Sasuke sympathised. His hand had stilled on the cat's back, as the feline purred in blissful slumber, long black whiskers twitching every so often.

"Is there a connection between the two?" Sasuke spoke as politely as he might, careful of his selection of words; it seemed obvious to him that there was something very important that he and Naruto didn't yet understand.

Hatsu smiled apologetically and relaxed his posture a little, "I suppose Mikado would not have explained very many details. Would it suit you for me to inform you of our world?"

"Please." Sasuke nodded.

Naruto sat back in his chair, ready for an interesting story.

"Before I begin, let me thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for agreeing to aid us in this time. You do not know how much this means to us." Hatsu bowed his head, which made Emery gasp in awe.

Sasuke looked on curiously, _'It's strange for him to bow to someone else? Mikado must be a high title..'_

Weith snorted somewhere in the background, and Sasuke watched as Carmine shot him a dangerous glare, _'She must be some sort of guard. Who exactly is this kid?'_

Hatsu cleared his throat and began, now looking again at Naruto, "My title and name is Mikado Hatsu Esteon. I am Mikado of the world Mikado, in a realm not like yours or the one we are currently in." He paused to let the information sink in and then gestured to Carmine, "Carmine Leucas is First Advisor and Personal Attendant to myself. She resides, together with me, in Esteon Palace on Sukai Mound at the centre of the Land Mikado."

He stopped again and looked to Weith. It seemed to disappoint Hatsu that the man would not look to him, "We are all from the Land Mikado. A decade and a half has passed since the first war in our country. Emery was born at the end of the war, while Weith served in the King's Army for All States, an army constructed with the sole purpose to dissolve that conflict."

Sasuke nodded unconsciously, now aware that it was probably a dislike for nobles that made Weith act coldly towards Hatsu and Carmine.

Naruto screwed his eyes shut and tried to clarify for himself, "Wait, so.. this place is Mikado..."

Hatsu shook his head, "Not this place."

"...and she's Mikado..." Naruto pointed out the door in the direction Mikado the Goddess had left.

"That she is."

"...and you're Mikado..."

"I am."

"But, wait, I... wha- Sasuke, _help me!!_" Naruto had given up trying to discern 'Mikado's and turned to his genius friend for help.

"Perhaps I spoke too broadly." Hatsu blushed once again, "The one that brought us all here is our land's namesake. She is the sole God of Mikado; therefore, our ancestors named the world in her honour."

"Oh.. It's ok, Sasuke, I'm getting it now." Naruto smiled cheerily at Sasuke, who only raised an eyebrow and went back to attending to the cat on his lap. Naruto noticed it for the first time.

He shrugged, deciding to address that unusual image later, and looked back to Hatsu, "So, Mikado's the Goddess that you worship in your world. But why are you Mikado Hatsu?"

Hatsu's eyes hardened, "'Mikado' is a title akin to Emperor in our world."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Emperor?"

"I understand that you have a leader named Hokage in your village. Mikado would be the one person who allied and presided over every such leader in your world."

Naruto would admit that, this time, he was indeed gaping.

Sasuke was at once attentive, "You seem rather collected for someone in the home of his people's God."

A breath escaped Hatsu's lips that Sasuke was sure no one else would have caught. His eyes were not hard anymore, but slightly tired, "We have always known that Mikado's existence was true. We were visited by a messenger of Hers twice in the history of the Land. Indeed, it was this Representative that I was scheduled to meet at the time Mikado summoned both Carmine and I from the palace. I now understand the reason for the meeting."

Things were coming together for Sasuke now, and it seemed that Naruto was also following. At a glance, Sasuke thought he saw anger on his friend's face, but Hatsu's next statement erased it.

"Mikado is giving us the opportunity to fight against the force that threatens us. She is not creating martyrs, she is giving us hope."

Naruto laughed lightly, "Heh, for a minute there I didn't really get why she'd make you part of this group. You're important in your world right? Well, I guess that _is _the reason for it: you need to lead your people through this."

Hatsu nodded hesitantly.

This made Naruto smile, encouragement infused his voice with energy, "No problem! We're here to help you!"

"Indeed, it was what Mikado told us, the both of you have fought this before." The young king was becoming infected with Naruto's positivity.

Naruto momentarily struggled in his mind for the appropriate way to explain what had happened before, in simple terms, "We got it out of our world before. That seems to be what made it move on to somewhere else. But we'll do all we can to stop it once and for all! Right, Sasuke?"

A grunt was sounded and Naruto flashed a thumbs-up to Hatsu.

"Thankyou, Naruto-esteel, Sasuke-esteel." Hatsu bowed again, even lower this time.

"Oh, yeah, what does that mean?" Naruto questioned.

Hatsu seemed at once relieved and surprised by the question, "'Esteel' is a term used when addressing someone whom one is not very familiar with, in our world. It is a term of respect."

"Gotcha. Respect. We use similar things." At this, Naruto was struck with inspiration, "Hey, Emery, you should call Sasuke, 'Sasuke-chan' from now on!"

Sasuke blanched and turned on Naruto with a horrified expression.

"Sasuke...chan..." Emery tried the word.

"Yeah, yeah. It's what we use for people we really like." Naruto grinned with zealous deviousness, canines clipping over his bottom lip.

Emery giggled and bounced on her seat, humming a wordless tune, speaking the suffix '-chan' every now and then.

Murderous intent pervaded the space between two long-time friends, "Naruto.. I am going to make you feel pain."

"Sure ya are, bastard." Naruto knew Sasuke would be too busy keeping his eye on the unpredictable girl to lay a hand on him.

Deciding that Mikado would not appreciate bloody décor, Sasuke did his best to cleanse his mind of destructive thoughts. Instead, he looked back in the direction of the young emperor and saw Carmine smile. He wondered what kind of a person she was, to be First Advisor to a child of his position, _'That boy is so young but seems to understand everything that's going on. He must be a tough kid.'_

Echoes of running footsteps suddenly flooded down the hallway leading to where the six were waiting.

"Aldehyde, you pathetic moron, get back here!" A childish shriek exploded into the room.

"Now, now; children shouldn't say such things." A cocky retort if there ever was one.

Two obscured bodies raced out of one door and into another.

Naruto slowly looked to Sasuke and blinked, "Eh... Sasuke-teme, who was th-?" And before he could finish his question, he was silenced by an airborne book.

Thrown to the wooden floor by the impact, and almost being trodden on as the bodies rushed back in and out through another different set of doors, Naruto marvelled at how his head seemed to become accustomed to such treatment. Even though he hadn't been the target this time, it hurt just as much.

Groaning as he pushed himself onto his knees, from where he had landed on his stomach, he yelled, "Why do people keep throwing _books_ at me?!"

"You seem to be more annoyed by the fact that it's books that are hitting you, rather than actually being hit." Sasuke observed, having stood up from his chair to help Naruto from the floor.

From his slanted view-point, Naruto saw the black cat saunter away after being roused from its dozing.

"Ow, ow, ow..." standing after a split-second descent was becoming painful, too. Sasuke held on to Naruto's elbows tightly until Naruto was completely upright.

Naruto whirled around, almost smacking Sasuke in the jaw with his arm, "Ok, who did that?!"

_'Ungrateful...'_ Sasuke scowled to himself.

Looking around the room now, Naruto couldn't see anyone other than those people that had already been there, but the two voices he had heard definitely didn't belong to any one of them. It was as he inspected the room for newcomers that he noticed it was circular. He found he couldn't remember if it had always been like that.

When he counted the doors that lead out of the room, he had to ask Sasuke whether or not he was going crazy, "Sasuke, were there always five doors on the walls- I mean, wall?"

Straightening himself from his crouched position on the floor, Sasuke held out the book he had retrieved to Naruto: 'Medicinal Herbs of the Onitsumo Valley: Volume VII'.

Sasuke seemed thoroughly amused, smirking at the look of disbelief on Naruto's face, "What a coincidence."

"Coincidence, my ass!" Naruto squawked and threw the book in a random direction.

"Hey, this wasn't cheap, you know!" All heads spun around at the sound of a new voice, sharp and tinted with exasperation.

Standing in the doorway directly behind the seat so far unoccupied, arms akimbo and face flushed with annoyance, stood a girl, holding up the manual Naruto had carelessly tossed aside. It began to disappear from sight, as if dissolving into thin air. She flicked her wrist and it was gone.

Eye-catching to say the least, her vesture consisted of a baby blue dress, cut to her knees and adorned with a mass of white lace around the hem, sleeves short and hanging just off of her shoulders; a white shirt underneath supplied long sleeves seemingly pieced together from lace cut-offs. She wore a white ribbon tied around her neck in a bow, which contrasted strikingly with her jet black hair, hoisted up by more white ribbons in pigtails, one either side of her head. Her legs carried a second skin of brilliant red that disappeared into black laced boots with pointed toes. Her pale pink lips, fair complexion and dazzling green eyes made her look like a pretty porcelain doll.

Sasuke blinked, _'Green eyes...'_

From the doorway behind Naruto and Sasuke, came a darting blur of black. It shot between the two and raced straight up to the little girl, letting frantic meows fill the silence.

"Ah! Magic!" Her voice lost its edge and became a light tone, tinkling almost like small bells with its happiness, "Did you miss me, lovely?"

Reaching down to the black cat, she picked it up from the floor and clicked her tongue. She cradled it to her chest and began to stroke behind its ear lovingly. A moment later, she stopped. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at the centre of the round table.

Slowly, she held her hand out to the wall beside the doorway she stood in. The girl said, with a vacant expression and lowered eyelids, "Excuse me for my solecism." And she banged on the wall with her closed fist.

Without warning, another black blur fell from the infinite darkness above, descending like a missile but landing with the grace of a cat.

It was considerably larger than the first.

"Good evening, guests," the blur, that was in fact a man dressed entirely in black, bowed to the six with the bearing of prince, "and most detestable host." He leaned lower to present his behind in clear view to the girl in the doorway.

"Pig." She deadpanned, tempted to thrust a kick in his direction.

"Ah, excuse me?" Naruto considered the bewildered faces of his new comrades and took it upon himself to voice their thoughts, "Who are you?"

The man in black looked up. As he stood to his full height, Naruto was awed by how tall he was – almost a full head taller than Sasuke and therefore a head and a bit taller than himself. His black hair was long enough to touch his shoulders while pulled into a single tail high on his head. Sleek and thick, it was as straight as straight could be. His smooth bangs framed his face and tickled his chin of skin paler still than the girls'.

If his hair was ink, his skin was the parchment yet to be inscribed.

Sasuke was not able to hold the gasp that came with seeing this man's eyes: a rainbow of hues of blue. Dark, light, sky, ocean, azure, sapphire, cerulean. They stormed like thunder clouds and one glance would entrance the soul, leading it closer like a flame would a moth, before consuming it.

He couldn't look away.

The man smiled before a velvet voice drifted over his red carpet tongue and between pearl white teeth, "I am Aldehyde."

Naruto gulped, "Oh."

"You're scaring him. Stop being so forthright." The girl broke the spell that Aldehyde seemed to have woven.

"Forthright?" He turned on his heel and spoke with a pouting pretense of innocence.

"Aura. Down. Now." She threatened icily.

In that moment it became easier to breathe. Sasuke stepped back and made sure to take Naruto with him. He eyed the girl cautiously and stole Naruto's next question, "And you?"

Releasing the cat, she took a step forward and let her arms sweep through the air before her. Placing one foot daintily in front of the other, she grinned and replied, "My dear, I am Mikado."

* * *

**Teaser for Chapter 7: Since Time Immemorial:**

"I have chosen you because of the hardships you have faced and the bonds you have strengthened. I would entrust this to no others."

**-**

She shook out the sheet and let it glide down to the mattress, "I'm afraid you two will have to share a bed. But that shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

**-**

The slow drip of ice cold water echoed throughout the cavern, "I am glad that you are well... Sasuke-kun."

* * *

Please, read and review! Have I done any better in this chapter? 


	7. Since Time Immemorial

**Chapter Title:**'VII. Since Time Immemorial'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author:**Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre: **Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humour  
**Warnings: **Light swearing; mentions of war  
**Rating:** M (for language)  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter ****Summary: **Before going any further, Naruto has to get this Mikado thing down. But even once he does, it isn't smooth sailing. There is a lot to talk about, and Sasuke finds some things a bit suspicious.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters of 'Naruto' and setting of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** **PLEASE READ:** If, after this chapter, you have questions about what's happening that should have been explained already (but maybe not so clearly, since I can write strangely) please tell me in a review or send me a message – I'll try to work answers into the story or simply reply to your question directly. ;) It is GIGANTIC, in my terms, and is PACKED with information. Pay close attention to everything, because you don't want to miss anything. :D Oh, I'm not going to have warnings for shounen-ai in every chapter that it is able to be interpreted in. I think it has been made obvious that this story will include shounen-ai and I need only 'warn' when something _significant_ is about to happen. Ja. Oh, and ten inches is approximately equal to twenty-five centimetres.

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**VII. Since Time Immemorial**

**-**

No one spoke.

Until Naruto, "Not another one!" His despairing wail caused Sasuke to wince, "I can't deal with more Mikados!"

"Oh?" The girl claiming to be called Mikado titled her head and looked on from her position in the doorway, "Is something wrong?"

Hatsu spoke with a laugh, enjoying the situation, "Naruto-esteel seems to think you are someone we have not yet met."

The girl's expression grew to a sly smile and she skipped towards Naruto, forgetting entirely about her verbal sparring partner, "Naruto, it's me!" She twirled and let her dress fan out around her, "Mikado!"

Blue eyes blinked as if not seeing clearly; perhaps he believed he could understand if this little girl just morphed back into the tall red-head, "So... you're the _same_ Mikado, from before?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"But... you're bouncing."

A bark of laughter from Aldehyde turned Mikado's previously pale cheeks a rosy red, "Quiet, you ass!" She turned on her heels and snapped at the man in black, who had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing harder. Despite her new appearance, Mikado was still a force to be reckoned with, and Aldehyde knew that better than anyone. He hid his mirthful eyes behind his dark bangs.

"But, before, you were older... and now you're, like, eight." Naruto scratched the back of his head and placed a hand on his hip, still trying to come to terms with this strange female, for lack of an accurate adjective.

Mikado's eyes took in the faces around her: Weith, Carmine, Hatsu and Emery were all still seated around the table, seeming calm and, in Weith's case, attempting to appear uncaring. She knew better – Mikado revelled in puzzling others and was infinitely proud of her guises.

"If you'd like for me to prove it, it's simple for me to do." She shrugged and pulled at one end of the ribbon around her neck, "Surely, you saw this earlier." As the white bow fell from her skin, Naruto knew that this was indeed the Goddess: the ribbon had been covering a ring of black that ran the circumference of her neck, in the same elegant curling design as that which had previously covered her feet and palms.

"I believe you." Naruto nodded and swallowed as he watched Mikado replace the bow. It was amazing to him, how this being was able to do incredible things and make them seem so small and simple. He had to wonder what she was capable of on a battlefield.

"Why have you changed?" Sasuke spoke up from beside Naruto, remaining indifferent in composure.

"Humm..." Mikado huffed like a child in deep thought, "I felt like a change." She squeaked and twirled around again but stopped when she was facing Aldehyde, who had seated himself in the last available chair, "You there!" She pointed at him, "Fetch me a chair!"

He snorted the most dignified snort that Sasuke had ever witnessed and crossed his arms, "I take no orders, witch."

"I thought not." Without protesting further, Mikado reached up and took Naruto's arm gently in one of her small hands and led him back to his own seat. As she passed Sasuke, she took his arm in her other hand and sat the two down at the same time.

Casting a glance over her shoulder, she clicked her tongue and leaped onto the wooden table. Landing without a sound, she strode into the centre of it and twisted around on her feet to cross her legs as she sunk to sit on the table's surface. Her arms opened, ready to embrace Magic, who had followed after her click. The layers of pieced lace shifted with quiet rustles on her arms while she stroked the black cat, murmuring a quiet request into his ear. A moment later, she pulled away from the feline and threw him up into the air with a wide smile and laughing eyes.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the unexpected action and wondered whether or not it was true that cats always land on their feet.

Magic had hit the ground in a trot and exited through one of the many doorways, leaving the room in silence.

Sasuke turned back to the girl in the middle of the table in anticipation of another bout of explanations; he expected that this quest he and Naruto had been pulled into would not be short of such conversations.

"I have chosen you because of the hardships you have faced and the bonds you have strengthened," boring her eyes into Sasuke's, Mikado suddenly seemed a lot less little girl and a lot more powerful God, "I would entrust this to no others."

Without warning, she rotated effortlessly on the spot to face the other half of the table, "It is imperative that each one of you has a thorough understanding of what is happening, so that you may help each other in defending the world Mikado."

Every face became serious and all eyes were on the girl. She inched forward from her spot, just a little, and held her right index finger to her forehead. She closed her eyes.

In the blink of an eye, a mirror image of Mikado was sitting back-to-back with her, right index finger to forehead, red stockings, blue dress and all.

Naruto's eyes widened but he said nothing. Sasuke, likewise, was in awe but made no move to show it.

They both knew that there would be no becoming accustomed to Mikado's ways.

Weith sat straighter in his seat and removed his arms from the table; of all the people present, he seemed the most irked by the sudden duplication.

Entirely unnoticed, Aldehyde examined each reaction in turn.

The newly summoned replica spoke with Mikado's childish, bell-like voice, "Since time immemorial, spirits of negative influence and spirits of positive influence have needed one another. Since time immemorial, war has been waging between these powers; likewise, peace has been kept by the same war."

The original Mikado took up speech, "You cannot have one without the other. That is why good people exist, and bad people exist."

"We would not know good without bad." Aldehyde offered.

The Mikado that faced his half of the table nodded. The other turned to Hatsu, "Hatsu, if you would, please describe the history of your home."

The boy nodded and swallowed, looking not half as nervous as Naruto was sure he felt, "The world Mikado is not very old. Our history stretches back almost three thousand years, however we began in a state of contemporary intelligence. In other words, we did not begin there." He looked between Naruto, Sasuke and Aldehyde, as the others were more or less aware of the information.

Sasuke followed Hatsu's words with interest while Naruto nodded, hanging on every word.

"We were brought to our world by the Goddess Mikado. She saved us from destruction in our last home. That is why She is the world's namesake – without Her, there would be no place for us."

From the corner of his eye, Hatsu saw Carmine nod appreciatively of his explanation, so he continued more bravely, "Although our annals do not contain in-depth accounts of this occurrence, we do not presume to demand the information." Here, he bowed his head slightly to Mikado. She returned the gesture and smiled kindly, something that would have looked out of place on a child's face in any other situation.

Mikado asked, "Carmine, would you please tell us of the Fifty-year War?"

Carmine blinked, at once startled and humbled by the request. Weith noticed her hesitancy and smirked, which inevitably kicked the woman into gear. She raised her head and spoke clearly, "The Fifty-year War ended fifteen years ago, spanning for exactly fifty years prior to that, hence the name and the common term 'Age of War' to describe the period of time." She folded her hands in her lap, "The sovereignty of Mikado was never severely imperialistic; all lands were unified and at peace. However, the Fifty-year War caused a rift."

"More like a gaping chasm…" The sarcastic comment from Weith did not go unheard.

"How did the war come about?" Naruto attempted to quell the fire sparking in Carmine's eyes.

Those gleaming orange eyes met with Naruto's, "It is still unclear as to how it began." She began to recite the details mechanically, "All that is known is that a dispute erupted between the states Kida and Kima, who were formerly one land named the Greater Land Mikado. The dispute then escalated. The other two states of the Land Mikado, Blis and Iio, withdrew from all contact with Kida and Kima from the beginning of the war up until the present time."

She lost the competitive aura that had been spurred by Weith to a hardened stare that guarded her personal opinions of the matter, "Since the end of the war, the Land Mikado has been drawn into a steady downward spiral in all areas: economy, health and social stability in general."

Mikado deemed this the moment to intercept the speech, "However, this isn't the most troubling issue." Carmine nodded in silent thanks for taking the focus from her.

The other Mikado began to speak, "The problems occurring now in Mikado refuse to be solved by the people," she looked to Naruto and Sasuke, "and anything that is done to aid the situation is undone in unexplainable ways."

"In other words," the second picked up, "something unwelcome has entered Mikado and is doing all it can to ensure the end of not only the sovereignty, but the entire structure of the world itself."

For all the tension that now permeated the room, Aldehyde remained entirely collected, "The Fifty-year War created ideal circumstances for the force to thrive in and commence its work."

Sasuke watched Aldehyde closely, for some reason not at ease with the unemotional way he was speaking. He decided that Aldehyde must not feel extremely attached to his home, to be able to remain so cool.

"Hatsu, the current communication status between the states, please." Mikado asked politely.

The young emperor nodded, "Whereas my aim is to instigate positive and working communication between all four lands and the capital, it is only Blis and Iio who are on friendly terms and in correspondence at the moment. All four states separately report to the capital with thinly veiled caution, at best."

"And that is important to remember, for all of you." Mikado's eyes shone, "While in Mikado, _everyone_ must be cautious and heed the words of Hatsu and Carmine – they are well-versed and up-to-date on all matters, and will know how to act in certain situations."

The Mikado on Weith's side of the table shot a pointed look to him, "They will know things the rest of you _cannot_. They will likely save your lives numerous times before this story ends."

_''Story'. She keeps saying 'story'.. What does she mean by that..?' _Naruto was not known to over-think things, but that was because he was actually very efficient in problem-solving.

It wasn't a fault that nine times out of ten he would rather act before thinking.

He made a mental note to bring the thought up with Sasuke later on; perhaps he would be able to supply an explanation that Naruto couldn't.

Both Mikados drew in a deep breath and relaxed their shoulders. They uncrossed their legs and re-crossed them, as if uncomfortable with their position. It was the one nearest Emery who spoke next, "So, the bottom line is this: your mission, as the seven chosen by myself, is to find the force that has thrown Mikado out of equilibrium and dispel it from that world."

"But, if we get it out of Mikado, won't it just move on to another world?" Naruto was worried that this would be a never-ending cycle of negativity, something that he refused to accept and would always try to change.

The same Mikado turned around, looking past her twin, "That is where I come in, dearest." She grinned with an impish curve of her lips.

Before Naruto could ask anything further, that Mikado turned back and let the other speak for her, "So, now you all know what's going on, we can begin to prepare for tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Emery echoed, finally feeling brave enough to speak in presence of both Mikado and Aldehyde, the man who seemed oddly friendly with her Goddess.

"Yes! Tomorrow you will be heading into Mikado to begin searching for clues that will lead you to the force." And with the cheer in her voice, the depressive atmosphere of the room lifted instantaneously.

Naruto was once again overwhelmed by the presence that was Mikado, _'She's so... unpredictable.'_

"Question-answer time! Let's get a few things to be common knowledge between us, yeah?"

_'She really is.. unpredictable.'_ Sasuke thought after her squealed suggestion, probably only made to divert attention from herself.

"You're such a child." Aldehyde smirked.

With a loud clap of her hands, Mikado had dispelled her copy and ended up perched on the table right in front of Aldehyde, close enough to bite his nose from his face, should she choose to.

She considered the punishment.

Everyone seemed to sigh and become relaxed with the bantering between the two that seemed to be a constant in their lives. Sasuke found himself wondering how exactly Aldehyde had come to know Mikado, a Goddess, so seemingly intimately, _'They must be good friends. I imagine she wouldn't tolerate the jibes otherwise.'_

"Oh! I have a question!" Sasuke turned his head only to come face-to-face with an enthusiastic Naruto, leaning onto the table and waving a hand in the air excitedly, "Uh, don't take this the wrong way or anything, Hatsu," the addressed boy blinked but said nothing, "but why are your eyes two different colours?" Naruto finished his question.

Carmine, Emery, and even Weith raised their eyebrows to that. Evidently, the reason was something that was expected to be common knowledge already.

Hatsu only blinked again, "Well..." and considered how to answer, "Well, this is a sign of the royal bloodline. The first Mikado was a woman blessed with a great ability: she was able to receive visions of the past, present and future through her eyes. This was of course very useful to her, as the first emperor." Hatsu motioned to his right eye, the one of white and silver, "As you can see, I have not yet fully developed this function."

"Wow..." Naruto sighed the word in amazement and thought aloud, "So it _is_ kinda like a bloodline limit."

"'Bloodline limit'?" Carmine became interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, in our world, I'm a ninja. Sasuke used to be one. Some clans, ninja families for generations, have special abilities." Glancing momentarily to Sasuke, Naruto understood by the surreptitious look he was being sent that he should refrain from mentioning the Sharingan, "Some bloodline limits affect the eyes, others let you manipulate things, like ice or earth." He cringed internally from memories that surfaced without his approval.

"Ah! A ninja? That's so cool, Sasuke-chan!" Emery had apparently slipped into another persona at hearing personal information about Sasuke. She tugged at a strand of her sooty black-grey hair and tried to catch his eyes with her own.

Sasuke ignored her completely.

During this time, Mikado had hopped over Aldehyde and was currently trying to decide which door led to where she wanted to go.

"Excuse me, Mikado," Carmine ventured, "Are you all right?"

Aldehyde let his head fall back over his chair to see an upside-down image of Mikado knocking on a door frame, "Are you lost?"

"Shut up, Aldehyde," she pouted, "I'm just trying to remember the way to the kitchen."

"Food?" Emery was distracted from Sasuke by the idea of having something in her stomach other than week old scraps. Sasuke was quietly thankful.

"Yes, we will be having a banquet tonight, as is customary in Mikado, no?" She rapped her knuckles on the wood again, "Ah! This one! Everyone, please follow me through to the kitchen." She bowed low and waited until each person had stood before heading into the hallway.

As Naruto stepped into the hall and looked around, he was somewhat unsure as to what to expect. The floor was paved of large sandstone blocks, as were the walls. There were no windows or lamps, so it puzzled him as to where the hallway's source of light was. The way was illuminated with a warm orange light that seemed to flicker as if it came from a flame. There was no breeze that could disturb a fire, however the air was cool and smelled faintly of smoke and pines. While he walked, Naruto looked to the ceiling and almost tripped over his own feet. Luckily, Sasuke steadied him before he could fall.

The ceiling was painted with enormous scenes ranging from battles to serene glades to creatures Naruto couldn't even name.

Black eyes roamed the images, drinking in the vibrant colours that were so bright they could have been freshly painted, as well as the contrasting pale pastels. Sasuke kept his hand on Naruto's arm for what must have been a moment too long, since Naruto suddenly looked awkward and called to Mikado, "What did you mean by a 'customary banquet'?"

"Oh, that." She hopped a circle and started to walk backwards, keeping eye-contact with Naruto, "A tale that is shared over all of Mikado, is that before the Fifty-year War began, a priest named Friday foresaw an ambush of Kida troops into Kima. He tried to let others know about his vision but no one listened. On the night before the war began, he issued one last warning before leaving his town and heading to the mountains, choosing to isolate himself in training to become a monk – someone more skilled than he currently was. He intended to return a spiritual man with the wisdom to prevent such a thing happening again. Friday's Feast is held in his honour before planned occasions, to remind the people of Mikado of the importance of the story." Mikado turned around and kept skipping towards her destination.

A moment passed.

Their footsteps echoed eerily through the hall.

Naruto looked to Sasuke, who only shrugged. He eventually piped up, "So, did he come back?"

Mikado twisted her head to look over her shoulder, "Huh? Oh. No." She smiled, her eyes becoming smaller with the way her cheeks puffed up, and turned back again.

Sasuke's brows furrowed, _'That was a little too easy for her to say...'_ He wondered what precisely she had meant by the 'importance' of the story.

"Mikado, may I ask," Sasuke began casually, "where exactly are we?"

Mikado jumped from stone to stone, avoiding the cracks in the floor, "You mean my home?" She started to walk backwards again to regard Sasuke with a warm smile, "It's kinda like the space between the closet and the wall, where everything you drop gets lost." She laughed at her own analogy.

"Don't look so suspicious," she admonished, giggling when Sasuke blinked, obviously having thought he hadn't outwardly reacted to her description, "_I _know where everything is."

A few minutes later, Naruto was beginning to feel a little impatient, _'How long have we been walking?'_

Beside him, Sasuke moved calmly, blank face void of any sign of restlessness.

In the next moment, his eyes widened comically and he shot forward. Naruto cocked his head to the side; it wasn't like Sasuke to trip. He brushed it off as nothing when Sasuke settled back into a normal gait.

The second time it happened, Naruto knew something was going on, "Oi, bastard, stop tripping. You're distracting me."

"I'm not tripping, usuratonkachi." Sasuke seethed through clenched teeth.

Naruto jerked at the fervent retort, _'Where the hell did that come from? I didn't do anything!'_

Sasuke jolted forward a third time, and that was that. He spun around and caught Emery's hands with one swift movement, "Touch me again, and I'll tear them off." He whispered dangerously.

Emery fluttered her eyelashes in an innocent manner.

Staring at the scene, Naruto's lip twitched. Before he knew it, he was laughing like there was no tomorrow.

From the head of the line, Mikado turned back, "What's going on?" She asked with the inquisitiveness of a five-year-old.

"Nothing." Naruto swore he saw steam coming from Sasuke's nostrils.

As he smothered his laughter and began to walk again, he shook his head in astonishment – everywhere he went, Sasuke managed to attract attention. One hundred percent unwanted.

One hundred percent warranted.

_'Wait a minute.'_ Naruto stopped walking abruptly at that thought.

It seemed that no one had noticed his sudden breakdown as all eyes were focussed on Emery and Sasuke. A moment earlier, Emery had latched both palms onto the back of Sasuke's pants. And squeezed. Sasuke, naturally, had whirled around and seized her wrists in a grip that constricted all blood flow to her fingers.

Suddenly, Mikado showed up in the middle of the scene, "Now, now, this can be settled maturely."

If one had blinked, he would have missed it: Emery's entire countenance was wiped of mischievous glimmer and was replaced by a mortified expression. She lowered her eyes and bit her lip.

Sasuke slowly let her arms go, not at all sure what had just transpired.

Mikado was also unsure, and so leaned over to catch Emery's gaze. She grasped the girl's chin lightly with her thumb and finger, turning Emery's face to hers, "I'm not angry with you, princess. But you should apologise to Sasuke. It isn't polite to touch other people without their permission."

Immediately, Emery looked to Sasuke, once again lowering her eyes in submission, "I apologise, Sasuke-esteel."

Sasuke nodded but did nothing else. He would have to watch her more closely than he at first thought. She was even more unpredictable than Mikado, even to herself it seemed.

The group began to walk again, and remained quiet until Naruto ventured another question, "Why is it taking so long for us to get there?"

Mikado grinned and taunted, "We do not ask 'why' in this house."

"Why not?" Naruto pouted in good-humour.

"Didn't you hear what she just said?" Weith's gruff voice cut into the friendly teasing.

Sasuke, still somewhat incensed by Emery's bold hands, answered Weith without looking at him, "She said, 'why', not 'why not'."

"Yes, Sasuke is quite right," Mikado giggled, "'why not's are quite acceptable."

Weith rolled his eyes.

"Ah! We're here!" And Mikado stepped through a doorway that had come from nowhere. The others followed without hesitation, becoming relatively accepting of the strangeness of Mikado and her house.

One look at the 'kitchen' had them all reconsidering that acceptance.

The entire room was covered in white tile. The white tile of the walls and ceiling was covered in deep green clinging vines. The white tile of the floor was covered in towering piles of pots and pans; randomly placed chairs acted as tables for various jars and bottles of miscellaneous contents and almost every available counter surface was cluttered with oddities and tools of all shapes, sizes and colours. Iridescent bowls and bottles held what looked to be chopped herbs and stems, mushroom caps and petals; some items were more distinguishable than others. Again, there was an absence of windows, even while the room looked as though it was lit by a clear morning light. There were, however, two arched doorways other than that the group had walked through that were open to an infinite darkness beyond them. One doorway was topped by a quartz keystone in the shape of a unicorn; the other, a phoenix.

Despite what could be called a 'mess', the room wasn't at all dirty.

Naruto scanned the jars, eyes widening at some and becoming slits at others. He couldn't make out a thing in them. Tempted to ask what Mikado kept, he thought better of it when he caught sight of a jar large enough to carry a body – a full-grown human body.

Yet it was empty, and that eased his delusions.

A clinking of glass against glass pulled Naruto's eyes towards Emery, who had prodded at a bottle only to have it teeter and hit another. Luckily, Weith had been standing to the other side of the bottles and stilled them. He huffed at the girls' carelessness, "Watch what you're doing, little clodhopper."

Emery only grinned, hands hidden behind her back, "Thankyou, Weith-chan!"

"Wha-?" Weith sputtered in embarrassed anger. He coughed and turned away from her, face a shade more red and grumbling nonsense.

Putting his own hands in his pockets, Naruto asked Mikado offhandedly, "Why the clutter?"

"I'm rather indolent." She shrugged, secretly revelling in her organised chaos.

Meanwhile, having not been very affected by Mikado's kitchen furnishings, Sasuke was considering asking Mikado to revert to her former appearance – that high infantile voice didn't suit her way of speaking. He realised, though, that she was a lot less proper in this form.

During the group's perusal, Mikado had found for herself a small stool, which she had dragged towards the counter of bowls and herbs. She then disappeared behind another counter, opening a low cabinet door and retrieving an off-white apron. Slipping it on and tying it up, she marched back to the stool with a determined pout on her face.

Everyone watched.

Her eyes were unwavering as she stepped onto the stool; she inhaled deeply and set her hands down on the counter top, either side of her. Leaning back and puffing out her cheeks, she launched her face forward and screamed, "Time to wake up, up!!"

The piercing shriek made everyone cover their ears, and caused Weith to growl in his foul temper, "_What_ are you _doing_?"

It was Aldehyde who stepped to the man's side and calmed him with a gentle motion to keep still and quiet. His ocean deep eyes danced with amusement as he turned back to the scene Mikado was creating. Naruto and Sasuke looked to each other, shrugged, and kept watching.

In front of Mikado's slyly grinning face sat an ordinary ceramic plant pot. Out of the earth inside the pot sprouted a stem with two large and healthy olive-green leaves, somewhat similar to spinach leaves.

Eyes widened and breath became bated.

Slowly, the soil began to part; that at the base of the stem fell away in tiny rolling clumps to reveal something smooth. It looked to be a tan colour, with grooves and eyes like those of a potato.

Suddenly, it had stopped its ascent and there in the pot sat a form of plant with a scowl on its face, using its stumpy arms to rub its beady black eyes.

"It's a root." Naruto deadpanned, ever so helpfully, pointing a finger lamely at the plant.

Sasuke let out a quiet sigh at Naruto's bluntness.

"White Mandrake, thankyou very much." The root stood as tall as it could – a grand ten inches – and posed haughtily with stumps akimbo.

Mikado leaned her chin on one hand, elbow resting on the counter-top; she grinned, "Everyone, meet Orioto."

"The Wizard." The mandragora corrected quickly.

"Orioto," Mikado ignored him completely, "is one of my dearest companions in my labyrinthine abode." She slid her eyes to him, "Make them feel welcome, please." And hopped from the stool to wander off with some unknowable motivation.

Hatsu stepped forward and bowed his head, "Orioto-esteel, it is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am-"

"Mikado Hatsu Esteon." Orioto interrupted.

"..Yes." Hatsu seemed rather speechless.

"I know of each and every one of you already," his voice was rough, like an old man's, but crackled with energy, "and am pleased to meet you all." He looked towards Weith, "Weith Tondril; good man, little lost, we'll find you a new way. Welcome." One of his leaves drooped as if bowing, "Carmine Leucas; loyal to a fault, my lady."

Mikado had returned with a brown mixing bowl, almost too large for her arms to wrap around, and was humming a soft tune while adding various things to a mix of batter. She began to stir the contents with a long wooden spoon.

Again, Orioto curled a leaf, "Miss Emery; street-crawler, light foot. Welcome to you." Emery made a sound of awe. As he turned to the tall man in black, Orioto's lips turned to a scowl again, "Aldehyde. Pervert, lecher, deviant. Unwelcome."

"Like minds." Mikado added absently.

"Quiet! I'm trying to be gentlemanly!" The root flapped his leaves.

Mikado snorted through a smile, "Insufferable."

Aldehyde smiled as well.

Shaking his leaves to rid himself of the surge of anger, The Wizard huffed loudly. He looked at Naruto next, "You, now _you_, I am very fond of. Your story is one for the ages." His voice had lightened almost undetectably, as if seeing memories in his mind's eye. Sasuke was the last, "And you," his eyes enlarged with fervor as he emphasised every syllable, speaking slowly in a rasping whisper, "tell a tale of immeasurable light."

Sasuke stared at the root, confused, '_**I**__ tell a tale of __**light**..?'_

"All right, everyone knows everyone. Take a seat and let's chat while I prepare the feast." At Mikado's call, seven chairs skidded into the room from a place undefinable and forcefully seated each person by running into the back of his or her legs.

Naruto landed surprisingly softly and laughed at the strange things, _'Hey, a root just talked to me; so what if the chairs move on their own.'_

Sasuke looked at him and smiled a small smile when Naruto silently asked with his eyes if he was having just as much fun.

"What are you making, foul girl? Another horrible concoction?" Orioto quipped to Mikado, who bobbed her head to a song only she could hear.

"Do you know, it's rude to ignore your elders."

Mikado looked at him as if he'd said something astonishing, her small hand gripping the spoon stopped its motion, "But.. I'm older than you.."

"You are a child." Orioto said with half-lidded eyes.

"Child-hearted, my dear, not a child. I am fully grown." She grinned again and giggled when he crossed his arms and looked away, "But don't feel so bad, many seem to make the same mistake in judgment." She poked out her lower lip at him.

Suddenly appearing next to Naruto, Mikado leaned towards his ear and whispered mock-conspiratorially, "He's not fully developed yet – no legs," she gestured to the part of the root not unearthed while holding her hands up in front of her as if imitating cat paws, swinging them back and forth by the wrists, "and it makes him grumpy."

Naruto had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing at her actions, _'She's so different in this body. I wonder if she has a different personality for every form..'_

"I know you're talking about me, snivelling child! Say it to my face!" The Wizard screeched.

"Exactly: I am talking _about _you, which means that you're _not supposed_ to hear it!" She shot back with venom.

Skipping back to her bowl, Mikado cast one look into it and squealed, "Nearly ready!"

Naruto leaned his elbows on his knees and asked, "So, Hatsu, are things in Mikado really hectic?"

Hatsu regarded Naruto with thoughtfulness, seemingly becoming more comfortable with the other blond boy, "Yes, many towns are rather frantic; however, the more rural areas are relatively peaceful." His eyes became sad, "You are asking how difficult it will be to walk through the lands undetected, are you not?"

Naruto blushed and grinned sheepishly at being found out so easily, "Well, knowing a little about what we're up against, I figure some chaos should cover us a bit."

Sasuke wondered at Naruto's opinion, _'Would it really be better to throw ourselves into frantic towns, or to keep in the shadows? Where would we be best hidden?'_

Mikado, still working on her bowl, made a suggestion, "It might be best to analyse each location from afar before entering," she held out her hand, in which a small teaspoon appeared, before dipping it into the batter, "so that way, if anything has changed that Hatsu and Carmine don't know about, you'll find out together." She held out the spoon to Orioto, who accepted to be fed the small amount. He nodded his approval of the taste and Mikado smiled.

"It is entirely unpredictable, as to what has happened since our departure. Even while we were tending to matters, every moment something new seemed to appear. It is utter chaos." Carmine remained strong in her speech.

"As soon as chaos ends in one world, it begins in another." Aldehyde said.

"Chaos happens everyday, in any world." Weith was reluctant to believe that whatever had happened in Naruto and Sasuke's world was connected to what was happening in Mikado.

"Not like this." Mikado spoke gravely as she carried the mixing bowl to a large oven, stepping past pots and pans and chairs of jars, "Orochimaru had the potential to destroy Naruto and Sasuke's world as they knew it. _That_ is chaotic power. Orochimaru is now dead. It is time for the evil energy in him to transfer."

"Does it have a name?" Sasuke was becoming uncomfortable with the repetition of that man's name.

Mikado closed the oven door and turned around gradually. She searched out Sasuke's eyes, conveying a silent apology at her carelessness. Children make mistakes. She cleared her throat and said, "The new entity, is Hakomaru."

By simply saying the name, Mikado had allowed a heavy silence, tainted and dangerously dark, to invade the room.

It might have been his imagination, but Naruto could have sworn the lighting dimmed just a fraction. Looking to Sasuke, he knew that a change of name didn't lessen his friend's hatred towards the enemy. Nothing ever would.

And perhaps that was the way things should be.

The unclean ambiance was dispersed by Magic, who ran into the room and shot up onto Sasuke's lap. Sasuke blinked and breathed out once, trying to calm himself down, _'I can't let it get to me so much..'_ He stroked Magic's back gently, _'If not for my sake, then Naruto's.'_ He leaned down and briefly kissed the top of Magic's head, feeling the vibrations of the cat's purring through the contact.

Naruto watched, amazed at Sasuke's actions and how Magic seemed to be able to pacify him.

Orioto eyed the air around him and croaked lazily, "That was interesting."

"Very interesting." Mikado waved her hands as if shooing away flies.

Magic looked at Sasuke and meowed once before jumping from his lap and running to Mikado. The girl flung the apron from her body and caught the cat as he bounced up to her. The apron disappeared. Mikado stared at Magic for a moment; then she looked up to meet Sasuke's dark eyes and said to everyone, "It's time I showed you to your rooms, and we prepare ourselves for the feast." Before turning to walk into the blackness of one arched doorway, she smiled at Sasuke.

He wondered if he'd seen right when Mikado's eyes seemed a little more glossy.

Everyone stood, and as they did the chairs left the way they had come. One after the other, the seven passed underneath the phoenix keystone and into the darkness.

"Go safely!" Orioto called after them.

* * *

Emerging from momentary blindness, the group arrived in a long corridor lined on both sides by doors of varying design and size. The walls were simply cerise wood, as was the floor, however a rich red carpet ran the length of it. Strangely enough, as Sasuke followed the path of the carpet with his eyes, he realised he couldn't see an end to the corridor. 

Having been caught off-guard by the new scene, Naruto didn't notice Mikado until he bumped into her, "Eh, sorry, Mik-ah!" He scrambled back a few steps before he ran into Sasuke's chest with his back.

"Idiot.." Sasuke sighed.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Naruto!" Mikado apologised frantically with a full and strongly feminine voice, like that of a loud teenage girl.

Emery began to clap her hands at the sight before her, obviously appreciating Mikado's newest appearance. She stood a couple of centimetres shorter than Naruto now, with plaited purple hair. Bits and pieces shot out, refusing to remain tied up, and framed her face in steps. Her eyes remained their dazzling green, but were now outlined in black ink. The same designs that had earlier adorned her neck were now painted around her eyes. Her nails had become a deep royal blue, both on her hands and bare feet. She clutched Magic to her chest which was now covered by a robe-like dress, secured around her hips by a sash of the same material – a material that seemed to change colour whenever she moved, like a metallic flow of hues.

"I do wish it wasn't so difficult for you to become accustomed to me." She pouted, perhaps genuinely disappointed, perhaps not. Naruto didn't get the chance to find out as she bent down to let Magic free. He padded off into the darkness the group had come from. Sasuke pushed Naruto forward gently so that he wasn't leaning back onto him anymore.

Straightening up and smiling at the group, Mikado walked towards the first door on the left of the hall. It was a door made of glass; it seemed as though one was able to peer right into the room beyond it. Mikado held her hand out to Emery. The girl stepped forward and stood beside her, their hands holding each other's. Mikado gave a light squeeze to rid the young girl of her nervousness.

She addressed the group, "Each of you will be resting in one of the many rooms of this hall tonight, and any other night that you return here. You and I will be the only two people able to open your door, however I won't be entering your room unless in emergency." She spoke to Emery, "This is your room. When you go in, you'll find a robe on the bed. The other door in here leads to the wash room. Clean up and put on that robe, then come back out here and you'll be shown to the dining room, all right?"

Emery nodded and placed her hand on the doorknob. When it opened, she squeaked as she realised that the image shown through the glass wasn't of the room behind the door at all. The room was beautifully furnished, with plush cushions and bright colours – something Emery wasn't even capable of dreaming of. She leaped onto Mikado in a hug before she rushed inside to explore.

Mikado shut the door to Emery's room quietly and walked the few strides across the hall to the first door on the right, "Now, Weith, would you please step to this door."

He did as was asked of him but approached with caution. This door was very different; it was pieced together by shards of broken tile. Hundreds of patterns stared back at Weith and he became almost dizzy with the colours. Wanting to keep up his tough demeanour, he hid the nostalgic shine in his eyes that came from being reminded of his late wife's patchworks. He tapped the door and examined it carefully. Sufficiently convinced that he was not walking into a trap, Weith entered the room.

Carmine's room was next, the door of which was fashioned of iron though it was in the shape of a very ordinary door. It had an extremely large handle. It looked incredibly heavy but as Carmine pushed on it, the door swung inward quite easily. Looking at Hatsu with concern, Mikado assured her that he would have the room next to hers, so he would be close at all times. Carmine went inside, nodded once to Hatsu and closed the door behind her.

The door to Aldehyde's room was the strangest so far. It seemed to be made of only a piece of maroon silk. It wavered slightly from the brush of air left by Mikado as she walked past it. A black tassel hung from the curtain in place of any solid handle.

Mikado smiled when Aldehyde approached and said to her, "I love your illusions."

"Call them what you wish." She replied casually.

As promised, Hatsu's room was next on the left side. His door was constructed purely out of leaves. They were expansive and dark green, the kind found on rainforest plants. As Hatsu grasped a thick stem that acted as the handle, he said to Mikado, "Thankyou, for all you are doing. To be honest, many in Mikado do not have faith in a bright future," his eyes shone with hope, "but I knew we would have another chance."

Mikado placed a hand on his head and stroked his hair once, leaving her palm resting on his cheek for a moment before ushering him into the room.

When his door clicked shut, she turned to the last two of the seven, "Naruto and Sasuke. Let me show you to your room."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, _'Wait, 'room'?'_

The next door on the right, slightly askance from Hatsu's as all the doors were not directly opposite one another, was crafted of a large chunk of wood. It was all shades, from oak to light timber. It reminded Sasuke vaguely of the room that he and Naruto had first arrived in with Mikado; however, as opposed to patterns in the rings of wood, patterns were carved into this door. Abstract shapes and lines made up pictures, such as of birds or flowers, books or shells, if one looked carefully enough.

This time, Mikado opened the door and stepped in herself. She beckoned the young men to follow her. As soon as he stepped inside, Sasuke was overcome by a feeling of warmth and incomparable security. Naruto, likewise, sighed at the sudden ease that flooded his senses.

Looking around the room, they were pleased with what they saw: off-white walls and a cream-coloured carpet gave the room a warm feel, which the golden-brown timber enhanced. A large dresser stood in one corner and a writing desk in another. In the centre of the room, Mikado had placed a small wooden table, its stand carved into the shape of a kneeling camel. Naruto had to remember to ask Mikado about all the strange creatures he was seeing in her home, at a more opportune moment. That table was surrounded by a set of soft caramel arm chairs and a long sofa of the same design. Again, there were no windows in this room, but there was a light source. A dish-shaped lamp hung from the ceiling in the centre of the room, spreading yellow light evenly throughout the space. The room was well-suited to both the shinobi and ex-shinobi's tastes – simplicity at its finest.

But one thing puzzled them. Both turned to Mikado.

The bed she stood before was set with cream-coloured sheets and pillows, fringed in a golden square-edged meandering pattern. The bed looked very comfortable. The bed. Mikado shook out the sheet and let it glide down to the mattress, "I'm afraid you two will have to share a bed. But that shouldn't be a problem, should it?" She twirled around, dress shimmering from black to green to purple, and jutted out a hip, placing a hand on it and awaiting an answer.

Sasuke shook his head, somehow surprised that after being asked he honestly didn't care about that detail at all.

Naruto was similarly apathetic. After he heard Mikado hint that they would be sharing a room, he reacted somewhat nervously, but now he really couldn't understand what the big deal was, _'Sasuke's my best friend. And he doesn't care, either. He better not kick in his sleep.'_ He narrowed his eyes and cast a suspicious glance at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't notice.

"Good." Mikado smiled genuinely, "It is the same in this room; the bathroom is through there," she pointed at another door, "please wear these," two robes, identical to hers but with long sleeves instead of none, materialised on the bed, "and then step outside. You will be shown to the dining room."

With that, Mikado left them to their devices in favour of finishing preparations for the feast.

Naruto turned to Sasuke when she had left the room, "So, you want the bathroom first?"

* * *

The innards of the lair were like that of a cave; the walls were stone, the floor was stone, the ceiling was stone. 

Some small rivulets of running water had smoothed pathways down the stone walls over centuries.

Along these walls, hollowed out niches housed blue lanterns.

Further into the cave, where the lanterns became more frequent, the stone walls and ceiling became gradually smoother. A spiralling shape had been cut into this smooth rock, as if a giant drill had hollowed the area.

There was no breeze, but the air was cold and fresh.

At the end of the tunnel was an area more brightly lit in blue light than any other.

In this area, sat a figure.

He sat in the middle of a circle carved into the stone. Runes and symbols were similarly scratched into the rock around the circle.

He sat alone.

Water had collected in a small pool before him, also within the carved circle.

He peered into the liquid.

Grinning a feral grin, he licked his lips and felt the sharpness of his canines.

The slow drip of ice cold water echoed throughout the cavern, "I am glad that you are well... Sasuke-kun."

* * *

So, Hakomaru has finally appeared. His name just drips 'evil', doesn't it? 


	8. Roselind's Magic Dance

**Chapter Title:**'VIII. Roselind's Magic Dance'  
**Belonging To:**'MiKADo'  
**Author:**Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre:**Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humour  
**Warnings: **None outstanding  
**Rating:** T  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary: **Knowing that their quest will require teamwork, the seven try to become more sociable with each other. Mikado believes that the best way for this to happen is to feast together. Celebration before infiltration – the new warrior's code.

**Chapter Soundtrack:** 'Enchantment' Yanni, 'Until The Last Moment' Yanni, 'It's Only The Fairytale' ('Mai-HiME' ST), 'The Butterfly' Celtic Women, 'Magic Dance' David Bowie

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters of 'Naruto' and setting of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** I realised that I hadn't been very careful with Mikado's character in the last chapter. I've now changed a couple of lines in chapter 7, but they're not essential to read. I'll be more careful from now on! ;P And yes, Mikado is a very indecisive and capricious character; whether or not that's because of her changing form so often is really up to you to judge. She's just plainly strange. Oh, and **WARNING:** I am dealing with a Sasuke somewhat unlike the Sasuke of the series; therefore, he will seem somewhat 'out-of-character'. Events leading up to his meeting with Mikado have caused Sasuke to become different. The next chapter might explain things a little. Basically, I am doing my best to keep Sasuke (and Naruto, for that matter) as in-character as per (worship) Masashi Kishimoto as I can, while adapting them to my story. Please keep this in mind. Thankyou!

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**VIII. Roselind's Magic Dance**

**-**

When Mikado said that all they need do was step out their door to be shown the way to the dining room, she wasn't kidding.

As Naruto and Sasuke exited their room, having finished bathing and dressing, they stumbled down the first few steps of a black obsidian stone staircase. Sasuke bumped into Naruto's back, successfully halting his descent. As he glanced behind him he saw their door had disappeared. A smooth crimson coloured wall had replaced it. He sighed heavily, telling himself he should really have expected that, and turned back around.

"You okay?" Naruto questioned with concern showing in his eyes.

Sasuke blinked and nodded once. He had been caught off-guard by the question and didn't understand why it had made him feel so vulnerable – there was no reason he shouldn't be all right.

"I just didn't like the sound of that sigh." Naruto explained. The concern in his eyes had been replaced by calm.

Had Naruto not turned to walk down the stairs at that moment, he would have witnessed a rather comical expression on his best friend's face: something between embarrassment and brain malfunction.

_'What exactly did it sound like?'_ Sasuke was confused by one too many things about that exchange.

Deciding to shrug it off, he followed after Naruto. The staircase was extremely short, the first step of which stood only a couple of metres off the floor. Having reached the last step, Sasuke looked around and noticed that they had entered directly into the dining room. All four walls of the room were painted crimson and the floor was panelled with dark oak wood, which felt cool under their bare feet. From the centre of a similarly fashioned ceiling hung a lamp in the shape of a giant flower; the shining yellow bulb was surrounded by four expansive glass petals, which curved outwards and faded into purple glass nearing the edges. In each of the four corners of the room stood a silver suit of armour, each one slightly different to the last. The only other thing inside the room, which had no visible doors or windows leading into or out of it, was the gigantic rectangular table of thick red wood that was set with eight places and laden with mountains of mouth-watering, richly scented foods. The dishes were veiled by a huge translucent-white cloth.

Five of the eight places were already occupied.

"Oh! Naruto, Sasuke! Please, come join us! As you can see, Aldehyde is now the only one missing." Mikado waved for the two newcomers to take a seat. They did so.

This time, Sasuke made sure that Emery would have no opportunity to come anywhere near him. As it was, Mikado sat at the head of the table. To her right was Hatsu, to her left was Weith. Beside Hatsu sat Carmine; beside Weith was Emery. Sasuke sat between Carmine and Naruto. Although there were nine seats vacant at the table, only one other place was set and no empty seats were beside Sasuke, therefore not leaving him open to attack.

He sighed heavily again, this time in relief.

"You sure you're okay?" Naruto's concern had returned.

"I'm fine." Sasuke kept the gladness he felt from showing on his face as he averted his eyes. He knew he didn't deserve Naruto's attention, but he still refused to openly show any appreciation of it.

And appreciate it, he did.

Mikado twirled a loose strand of purple hair around her finger, "The dear man must always arrive fashionably late." She smiled sarcastically to herself. Setting her other hand on the table, she thrummed her blue fingernails against the surface. The small clicks drew Naruto's attention towards her. Mikado crossed one leg over the other and continued thrumming. Realising that she hadn't changed appearance again, Naruto looked around the table to see that everyone was wearing a robe similar to hers. Carmine and Emery wore those absent of sleeves, identical to Mikado's, while the males around the table wore short-sleeved robes.

They all shimmered with changing colours under the light of the flower-shaped lamp.

Naruto looked across the table to Emery, who had obviously worked hard to wash herself free of dirt and grime. Her skin was clean and a healthy tan. Her hair was dry, which Naruto realised happened automatically on arrival in this room, and pulled into a much neater tail secured by a new rubber tie. Naruto concluded that a peculiar shade of black-grey was indeed Emery's natural hair colour; it looked considerably more healthy after being washed. Her eyes gleamed with barely contained happiness and Naruto expected her smile to split her face into two at any moment. It was upsetting to realise that Emery probably had never experienced such treatment before in her entire life.

Wanting to distract himself from such thoughts, Naruto looked to Weith. He too had cleaned up nicely. He had shaved and was also tanned underneath the layer of dirt that had covered him. With the sleeves of the robe cut short, the scars that littered his arms were now visible. None were particularly distinctive, but each arm as a whole bared many. Weith had his arms crossed casually across his chest.

Both girl and man looked refreshed and relaxed.

Similarly, Carmine and Hatsu also seemed more relaxed. They remained well-groomed, as expected of the upper-class, but Naruto felt the tension from earlier had dissipated. He smiled and leaned back into his chair, hoping that Sasuke would also loosen up a little soon; he knew that Sasuke wouldn't let his guard down completely.

Hatsu was speaking to Carmine, "I am glad to be rid of the royal garments." He smoothed his hands over the robe he was wearing.

"Hatsu, please." Carmine admonished with a disapproving look, her free golden hair shifting as she turned her head to the small boy.

"I meant only because there are so many pieces to the costume." He pouted, like the child he should be.

Carmine did her best to disguise her grin with a chastising scowl.

Suddenly, a door appeared at the top of the staircase. It was the same strange door that lead to Aldehyde's room. Said man stepped out, closed the door behind himself and walked calmly down the steps.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at how easily Aldehyde had accepted the staircase-from-nowhere and vanishing of the door, _'So, he really has been here before.'_

"Good evening, deviant." Mikado purred, smirking with satisfaction at having used one of Orioto's beloved descriptions of Aldehyde.

"Good evening to you as well, my dear." Aldehyde winked at Mikado and took his seat beside Emery.

Mikado rolled her eyes and asked, "Pray tell, what took you so long?"

Aldehyde pouted playfully and leaned back, resting one arm over the back of Emery's chair, "Nothing in particular."

Emery carefully looked at the man from the corner of her eye, not wanting to look at him directly. She squeaked and blushed when he grinned at her suggestively.

Mikado'e eyebrow twitched but she didn't say anything to the man's unseemly behaviour. Instead, she picked up her goblet and stood, holding it out before her by the stem, golden and etched with filigree like the other seven, "Everyone, please take up your drinks." Aldehyde became serious and sat straight in his chair. The goblets were raised. Sasuke noticed right away that they were all empty and was actually quite interested to see how Mikado would fill them. In the next moment, she turned her goblet upside-down, waited a split-second, and turned it right side up again. Sasuke watched carefully as a thick, though transparent, red liquid gradually began to fill the cup he held. He saw Naruto inspect his own cup, moving like a confused meerkat, perplexed as to where the liquid was coming from. Sasuke looked into his own again. It seemed as though the drink was rising from the bottom of the chalice itself.

A bubbling giggle made him look to Mikado. She seemed amused at the varying reactions she was receiving.

Carmine whispered under her breath to Sasuke, "This is the customary action to begin Friday's Feast. All priests have been granted this ability since the time of the first Mikado; however, they only summon water."

Sasuke inclined his head to show he had heard. As he did, he saw that Emery was just as amazed as both he and Naruto. She stared into her goblet, both hands cupped around it as if any sudden movement on her part might disturb the miraculous act. It was obvious that Emery had never seen this happen before. Sasuke almost sympathised, realising that she had probably never attended any remarkable gathering in her homeland, _'It's completely different, seeing the things Mikado can do and then having it happen in your own two hands.'_

The girl discarded her amazement when Mikado spoke.

"In acknowledgment of that which we pursue," Mikado's voice rang out in the room, "we drink and dance tonight. For our end it is, that we now pray." She raised her cup higher and her smoldering stare followed it, "With this feast, we remember Friday and know our fight." Hatsu, Carmine and Weith raised their goblets as Mikado did, and Emery, Sasuke and Naruto copied the motion; Mikado finished, "For Mikado, we now feast!"

"Marked!" Hatsu, Carmine and Weith responded together. Emery, Sasuke and Naruto echoed the reply.

Together, the eight drank from their respective cups. The liquid was sweet, not like wine but rather similar to a syrupy juice.

As they set their goblets down, every one of them felt a new connection made to every other person in that room.

Naruto looked to Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Naruto.

With Naruto's eyes sparkling and his smile conveying excitement no words could describe, Sasuke knew that he was supposed to be there. At that moment, he knew beyond a doubt that his place was beside Naruto, fighting against the thing that wanted to keep the two of them apart.

Then and there, he made a vow to never let that happen again.

"Well then," Mikado grinned slyly, "let us begin!" With one smooth movement, she pulled the translucent cloth from the table and flung it towards the ceiling. The sudden up-draft of air caused the delicious smells to waft upwards as well, invading the senses of everyone at the table. As the cloth hovered back down, it began to vanish.

Hatsu gasped at the sight that greeted them and uttered in awe, "Thankyou, Mikado. This is marvellous."

The table was covered in innumerable plates, each holding a delicacy more attractive than the last. There were golden brown roasts and cobs of corn, steaming bowls of soups surrounded by powdered loaves of bread; platters of crisp, fresh fruits were piled high between crystal pitchers of water, and bottles of both sweet and savoury sauces were strewn over the table. An assortment of cakes and pastries decorated the end of the table, creating a pretty display of glazed cherries and sweet trappings. A crystal bowl of cream, full and soft like an edible tuft of cloud, had been placed in the centre of the desserts, between two boats of dark chocolate and vibrant pink strawberry sauce.

Mikado resumed her seat and slid a small glass full of dark grapes towards herself. She plucked three from it and slid it back. Emery was quick to do the same, obviously becoming more fond of Mikado with every move she made. She too took three grapes, watching closely how the Goddess moved, daintily and effortlessly, and tried to emulate the actions. Mikado noticed and offered a saucer of boiled eggs to Emery. The girl took one and beamed, "Thankyou, sister!"

Sasuke caught the surprise that flitted across the Goddess' face, before it gave way to a kind smile.

As the others all began feasting on the banquet, Naruto was lost as to where he should begin. Practically salivating at the sight of all of it, he looked from dish to dish, "Aw man, where to start..."

"The white sauce is _delicious_ when combined with those rolls." A heavily accented voice sounded to Naruto's right. He looked in that direction but saw no one there. Naruto shook his head and reached for the white sauce.

"Oh, I _do_ recommend the green salad. Drizzle some of that oil on it and you will fall in _love_!" Another voice, higher in tone and much more exaggerated than the last spoke to Naruto's left.

He whipped his head around and came face to face with Sasuke, "Uh.. Did you hear that?" Naruto asked with an unsure raise of his eyebrow.

Sasuke was about to reply when another different voice interrupted, "Don't listen to them. One of those tortes is just what you need. They are _divine_."

"The choice is obvious: choose the soup." The last voice was clipped and considerably deeper than the other three.

Naruto looked to Mikado with pleading eyes, "Tell me I'm not going crazy!"

Mikado laughed and held a hand up to her mouth; it seemed she'd been waiting for a reaction to the newest oddity.

"Don't mind them, they're just pleased to have more dinner guests." She gestured to the four corners of the room with delicate turns of her wrists. In those corners, stood the suits of armour, as still and lifeless as they had been before.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Naruto deadpanned.

"She's not, they really _do_ enjoy the company." Aldehyde chuckled as he brought a forkful of potatoes to his mouth.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce to you the Four Suits." Mikado looked first to her right, to a suit with large sharp spikes radiating from its shoulder armour, "This is the Suit of Spades." The suit raised an arm with a jerk and saluted the group. Mikado looked to her left, "The Suit of Clubs." It leaned on a gigantic metal club-like weapon with one hand and saluted with the other. The next suit had a shining helmet in the shape of a European dragon's head, "This is the Suit of Diamonds." This one also saluted. The last suit carried a silver spear, topped by a spearhead in the shape of a typical heart, "And this is the Suit of Hearts."

"Charmed." The Suit of Hearts stepped forward and bowed, then stepped back into its original position.

"As are we." Carmine beamed, as though this was the greatest thing she had ever seen.

Emery twitched her nose and looked at the suits suspiciously.

Mikado's eyes shone with affection for her Suits and Naruto was reminded again of that motherly aura she seemed to carry.

"My, what lovely guests, Miss Mikado!" The Suit of Spades gushed happily.

"I say, they are a diverse bunch." The Suit of Clubs observed.

"Aldehyde, good to see you, old chap!" The Suit of Diamonds raised its hand in greeting.

"And you, friend. Mikado has been caring for you accordingly, I see; you're shining like the day you were fashioned." Aldehyde smiled his dazzling smile and nodded to the Suit.

"Indeed, she treats us well." The Suit replied.

Weith laughed heartily and tore into a leg of roast, "Mikado, you sure have some wild things running around here."

Mikado laughed, "The Four Suits keep me company while I dine alone. They are treasured to me also."

Naruto decided it wouldn't hurt to take the advice of someone who – something that – dined with Mikado often, regardless of whether or not it could actually taste the food. "So, the soup, was it?" Then again, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if these Suits possessed the five senses. Sasuke made a noise deep in his throat somewhat similar to a laugh as he bit into a piece of bread, and Naruto scoffed good-humouredly at him, "They gotta know what they're talking about."

The group continued with the feast, each enjoying their fill while the Four Suits offered conversation enough to entertain a gaggle of geese.

* * *

Some time later, the eight had finished their meals and were satisfied. They were still conversing long after eating, and had become relatively comfortable speaking with one another. 

Sasuke was the only exception. He would answer questions in short sentences but would never offer to begin a conversation or ask a question himself. If it was something that Naruto could easily answer or provide on his own, then Sasuke would gladly let him do so. Naruto wasn't unhappy about the arrangement – that was just how things were with Sasuke.

"I see. You are not all from the same world. Extraordinary." The Suit of Diamonds, among the other Suits, had become rather interested in the whole story.

"Jolly good! An adventure!" The Suit of Spades added giddily.

"Well, you should be off to your celebrating! Don't let us keep you." The Suit of Clubs came forward and picked up Weith's plate. It raised its helmet and dropped the entire thing down the hatch.

"That's one way to clear a plate." Weith snorted. Naruto decided that he was practiced in hiding his surprise behind sarcastic comments. He often seemed indifferent towards the things happening around him, unless one knew how to read him.

"Yes, you still have lots to enjoy tonight!" The Suit of Hearts joined the others who were now busy picking up dishes and sliding them into their helmets.

"What else are we doing, sister?" Emery picked at something stuck between her teeth with her nails.

"We are heading to another room," Mikado materialised a silver toothpick into her left hand and offered it to Emery, "to begin the active festivities." She spoke quietly while addressing the girl.

Sasuke watched as Emery took the toothpick from Mikado's hand. When Mikado turned to the rest of the group, Emery inspected the metal stick. She seemed a little confused. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched when the girl, at a loss as to what to do with the thing, tucked the toothpick away in her hair for safe-keeping.

_'I wonder what else she has hidden..'_ Sasuke was inwardly dumbfounded.

"Now, if you would," Mikado stood with a fluid movement, her robe shifting with a silky slipping sound, "follow me to the realm of music, dance and general merriness." Her emerald eyes shone with mirth and her pale, unpainted lips curved into a smirk.

Sasuke considered her carefully, _'Mikado's speaking more formally again.. but she also sounds as if she's joking, somehow... Her personality really must be altered by her appearance.'_

"Thankyou, Four Suits, for your wonderful company." Mikado gave an exaggerated bow while a chorus of thanks came from the others.

The Suits also bowed and bid the guests goodnight, reclaiming their positions in their corners after having cleared the table. It was spotless.

Mikado smiled at the Suits one last time before heading towards the wall on her left.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, abruptly frowning when he saw the look on his face, "You gotta stop analysing everything," he examined Sasuke's guarded features, "Even if she's a bit weird, Mikado's doing all this for her kids." Naruto stood up and started to walk the way Mikado had gone.

Sasuke wished he could follow Naruto's example and believe in that. He stood up to follow Naruto but did not walk beside him, _'How much do we really know about all this?' _His mind supplied the answer, _'Only as much as Mikado has told us.'_

He didn't want to be suspicious but it was in his nature to question everything, after all.

The eight had passed through a conjured doorway; as Mikado had neared the wall, it split and parted, creating a simple passage from the dining room into the next room, which was infinitely different to the last.

In fact, it was more a meadow than a room. Carpeted by grass, healthy light greens scattered with tufts of dark green, the verdant 'room' stretched far into the distance with no boundaries other than the horizon visible. Absent of a ceiling, when one looked up a dark expanse of star-studded night sky filled the space any usual roof should occupy. It was impossible to judge how far away or near the sky was. Not one cloud obscured the majestic array of glittering jewels that dotted the blue vastness. There were also no trees in sight. There were, however, a set of twelve equal-height flat-topped stones surrounding a tall pyre. The stones were carved from the precious gem moonstone and shone with reflected light from the tinsel pin-pricks above. Around the pyre, thirty-two sticks of incense had been pushed into the soft earth at evenly spaced intervals. They were dark red in colour and reached almost half a metre in height. A breeze swept by; it was cool and caressed the hair, carrying with it soft pink petals of an unidentifiable species of flower. As the gentle wind rested, the petals lilted to the grass.

Naruto stooped to pick up a petal, feeling its velvety texture between his fingers. He turned around and held it up to Sasuke. The dark-eyed young man seemed unaware of himself at that moment – he had allowed the awe he felt to flood over his face and set in his eyes, letting them shine in a wonder Naruto had never before seen on him. He smiled as Sasuke accepted the petal and watched how his friend marvelled at it, almost as if it was the most delicate thing in the world.

"Mikado," Naruto breathed, "This is magical."

Mikado's eyes were sadly nostalgic, "I know."

Aldehyde appeared beside her then, with the same look of sad-happiness causing the changing blues of his eyes to shimmer. He said nothing.

Hatsu had reached out to take Carmine's hand in his. The woman squeezed her charge's fingers to let him know she was with him.

Feeling the change in atmosphere around her, Emery perceived the moment to be one of intimacy, something to be shared with a friend. A frown marred her face as she realised she didn't have such a person. Noticing her unhappiness, Weith sighed to himself. Knowing he would regret it later, he reached out a hand and let it sit atop of Emery's head. Surprised, the girl looked up. Weith did his best to smile at her, and seemed to succeed in pleasing her: she returned the smile shyly and blushed before looking back out into the never-ending sky.

Another breeze moved past. Sasuke blinked and became alert.

Naruto frowned at the change and stood back up, "What's wrong?"

"Shh!" Sasuke whispered. He let the petal fall, but before it reached the ground it was caught in another light wind.

"..I hear it.." Naruto's voice was low and subdued, an exhaled breath lost in the music that had begun to sneak its way into the air around them.

High clinking sounds, bells on the stems of daisies; a wavering, singing violin; the plucking of a guitar, high thrums and dulled pats, not unlike dancing steps of a child, becoming steadily louder, closer.

Like music from a music box.

Naruto slowly began to grin, "It's back.."

This time, Sasuke didn't feel the need to take Naruto's hand in his. But he did anyway.

Startled, Naruto looked down to see his hand joined with Sasuke's. He smiled. He wasn't going to question it.

At hearing the violin becoming louder and the beat of the music becoming faster, Mikado turned and looked up at Aldehyde, "Why don't we?"

Aldehyde grinned down at her affectionately, obviously relieved by the way her melancholy thoughts had dissipated, "Yes, let's." He took her hand in his and pulled her close, curling his arm around her shoulders; in the next moment, he reversed the action, swinging her forward in a twirling flurry of shifting colours – black, green, purple, blue, scarlet – which she ended with a thudding stomp of her feet.

Posed before the pyre, Mikado's eyes flashed and the wood burst into hot, crackling flames. Aldehyde jumped swiftly onto one of the moonstone blocks and held his hands out before him. He shook his head once to cast his tied up hair over his shoulder. Mikado spun around just in time to witness a violin of blood red wood and ebony black strings appear in his upturned palms. He swung his arm in a large arc, calling a bow, similarly coloured and fashioned with black hair, from the air. He laid violin to shoulder and bow to strings, and began playing a tune. Deliberate strokes became rhythmic see-sawing notes. The pitch climbed and fell, while Aldehyde's arms glided gracefully back and forth.

Mikado twirled around once and set off to skip around the pyre. The ends of her robe flared with her running hops and she clicked her fingers to bring a spark to each of the incense sticks she passed. The scent of lemon and dried sugar plums spiced the faint smell of the fire's smoke. Halting and bending low, she lit the last stick by blowing on it gently until smoke began to spiral upwards from its tip.

Hatsu had tugged Carmine forward and now shared a stone with her as a seat. Emery had copied the motion, however Weith had chosen a stone separate to hers, which she pounced onto to sit cross-legged and clap her hands along with Aldehyde's playing.

Naruto whooped and threw up a fist to egg on the playing before pulling Sasuke towards another stone. They sat together and watched Mikado dance around the rock that Aldehyde swayed atop of. Their hands remained joined.

Suddenly, Aldehyde dragged the bow, making it sound almost as though the music were about to trip over itself, but then launched into a quick and complicated rhythm of twisting pitches and resonating hums.

Mikado began to dance faster. She whipped her head in the direction of the fire and let her hair come undone. The lilac strands swiped through the air with her fast movements, bounced as she jumped and followed every curving swoop her body made. She closed her eyes and began to sing.

At first, her voice was a low mumble, mimicking the sounds of the violin itself. The next moment she began to twirl on the spot, and as she did, her voice became louder, higher. The humming became words of a foreign language, ancient and rolling from her tongue.

Still, she spun. Her robe fanned out around her and undulated like an iridescent wave. Her hair splayed about her. The music became faster. Aldehyde closed his eyes as well. His fingers blurred over the strings with the speed of his playing.

His voice joined Mikado's.

When they reached a certain note, Naruto's hand tightened around Sasuke's. But Sasuke didn't notice because his vision had begun to swim.

Naruto, too, could only see spinning shades of black and blue and green and black and blue and green.

Their ears were filled with the chanting and they began to sweat. A drop slid down the bridge of Naruto's nose and he squeezed his eyes shut. Sasuke gripped the rock with his free hand and held Naruto's even tighter with the other. Both began to suck in breaths of air that burnt their tongues, heated as it was by the fire.

The spinning went faster, faster, faster. Still faster, faster, faster.

Aldehyde's fingers flew; Mikado's feet might not even have touched the ground.

With one final strong pull on the violin's bow, a reverberating ring ended the chaos.

Mikado collapsed where she stood.

In the silence of the moment, Naruto and Sasuke both slowly regained their wits.

As if a frosty mist had settled in, the air around Naruto and Sasuke became cool once more. They released each other's hands to wipe the sweat from their faces. Swallowing once, Sasuke noted he could no longer taste the ash from before. Naruto placed a hand over his heart and felt the beats return to normal.

Looking quickly from Hatsu and Carmine to Emery and then Weith, not one of them seemed to have experienced the same thing. They were entirely entranced by Mikado's performance. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and wished they had an explanation for what had just happened.

Aldehyde sunk slowly onto his heels and breathed in deeply. Resting his elbows on his knees and hanging his hands over them, he tapped at the wood of the violin and laughed at Mikado, "You know how to make me work, little spitfire."

She rolled over, seeming absolutely unaffected by her vigorous dancing. As she sat up and smoothed her hands over her hair, it flattened and became neat once again. Mikado was not panting, not sweating – she only grinned and laughed, a genuinely joyful sound, "You always keep up, dearest."

Aldehyde held out a hand, which Mikado accepted, and he helped to pull her up to stand. He, however, remained seated on the cold rock. Mikado added, "And Roselind would never let you down." She touched the strings of the violin lightly.

Stepping back from Aldehyde, Mikado swept her eyes over her audience, "And now, it is your turn to dance!" She threw her arms up over her head, calling upon the invisible melody makers of the fields to begin their music again.

A beat began, like hitting a taught drum; strumming and bells and hundreds of other sounds joined together to create a lively tune that begged to be moved along with.

Hatsu stood and pleaded with Carmine, "Come, Carmine! Dance with me, please!" She eventually gave in.

Emery was already on her feet, jumping about with reckless abandon and utter disregard for rhythm of any sort. She squealed and cartwheeled, not knowing a limit to enjoyment.

Weith resigned himself to a comfortable position on the ground, leaning back against the stone he had previously been sitting on. He was content to watch the flames of the fire waltz to their own tune.

Having decided to put the strange episode of vertigo behind him, Naruto accepted the fact that he wouldn't be getting Sasuke up to dance. Instead, when Aldehyde neared him and held out his hand, Naruto grinned and jumped up to join in.

Sasuke tried not to notice – he wanted to concentrate on the unusual experience he had just been through – but he couldn't help but watch as Naruto's eyes lit up. As his friend danced with Emery and played the part of the dashing prince in her dancing game, he realised that Naruto really was very good with people. The way he handled the inconsistent girl impressed him.

After some time of dancing with Emery, Naruto noticed that Aldehyde had sat down on one of the rocks and was plucking at the strings of his violin, rather than using his bow. The contemplative look in his eyes betrayed the neutral expression on his face.

Naruto twirled Emery around one last time, before bowing in a perfect gentlemanly fashion and saying, "Would you excuse me, princess? I have matters to attend to." He wiggled his eyebrows for added effect.

Emery giggled and nodded. She did her best curtsy and hopped away to join Hatsu and Carmine.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto made his way over to Aldehyde, _'Now's as good a time as any..'_ Well aware that Aldehyde knew of his presence beside him, Naruto got straight to the point, "So, who are you?"

Tall, dark and mysterious didn't even blink. His eyes remained trained on the flames of the fire, which cast a warm orange light over his face, "I am Aldehyde."

_'Ok, let's try again.' _Naruto huffed and sat on the ground next to the rock, "I know that. And you know I know that. You also know what I meant by my question."

Aldehyde smiled and glanced at Naruto, "I am who she wants me to be." His nails clipped at the ebony coloured strings. A few black strands of his hair fell over his eyes as he looked down at the violin.

Leaning one arm on the surface of the rock, Naruto questioned further, "What's that supposed to mean?" His tone was light and casual.

"It means that who I am depends on what Mikado needs." Aldehyde's lips turned into a soft curve as he looked back into the fire. His eyes became less burdened.

Naruto studied his face and the way the shadows danced over it, "So you're not a God?"

Aldehyde chuckled, a rich deep sound that stirred something in Naruto, "No, I'm not a God."

_'For someone who's not a God, he sure gives the impression of one.'_ Naruto, despite being only slightly closer to understanding Aldehyde, was pleased with the reaction he had gotten.

Taking his eyes off the flames, Aldehyde stretched his neck towards the sky. His eyes shifted as if he were counting every single glinting star he could see, and his bangs fell back over his ears.

Naruto noticed something then that he hadn't before: above Aldehyde's right eye, cutting through his eyebrow, was a scar. No longer than Naruto's littlest finger, it was extremely thin, _'It looks like a scar from a blade..'_

"How did that happen?" Naruto asked with an honest interest, not being able to contain his curiosity. His voice became slightly raspy when he spoke quietly.

Aldehyde knew what Naruto was referring to. His eyebrows furrowed a fraction and his mouth twisted into a scowl small enough to miss, "It was meant for her."

The admission was almost lost to the hissing of the fire.

Again, Aldehyde's voice had managed to evoke something within Naruto. As his gaze trailed away from the man next to him, it moved slowly towards Sasuke. Naruto wasn't sure why, but something about the way Aldehyde spoke reminded him of his best friend. There was conviction in his voice; every syllable he uttered had some purpose, some meaning, and much of that meaning was tied to Mikado. Naruto thought to himself,_ 'He makes it sound like he lives for Mikado.' _Looking back at the man who had begun to play his violin once more, Naruto believed he understood him a little better, _'Well, yeah. 'Cause if he doesn't have Mikado,' _he looked again at Sasuke and a tiny smile tugged at his lips, _'what else is there for him.'_

On the other side of the fire, a wayward ember caught Sasuke's attention, flickering amber and red as it floated through the air, and led his eyes towards Mikado. She was sitting, back to him, on bent knees in front of the stone furthest from him and to his right. Curling a piece of her jagged-cut hair around her finger, she focussed on what looked to be a pack of cards being tossed and shuffled through the air. All by themselves, of course. Intrigued, Sasuke stood and walked towards the Goddess.

As he reached her side, Mikado smiled and held out her hand. The cards laid themselves face-down onto her palm, one by one, with repetitive 'shink' sounds. She didn't look at Sasuke as she fingered the edges of the pack, "Would you care for a few words of insight?"

Sasuke's face remained blank, "Insight, Miss Mikado?" The mystical feeling that the atmosphere of fire-light under a night sky created seemed to make that offer all the more appealing.

This time, she twisted her neck to look at him over her shoulder, "I won't tell you again, darling; I need no address but simply my name." She grinned as she noticed he had picked up on her taunting tone, "But yes," she turned back to the moonstone block, "insight I offer, to those who would care for it."

Sasuke smirked and moved to sit across from her, on the other side of the block.

"I am glad you are open to your future." Mikado said.

Roselind's singing and the bewitching music continued to play in the background while Sasuke became fully attentive to Mikado's words, "You are able to see one's future?"

"It is not something I see, rather something I am able to anticipate." She tilted her head and her expression softened further, "I can interpret the energies of many worlds, many designs. By doing so, I am able to perceive general events in a person's past, present or future. And as we all know, the past and present both affect one's future."

Sasuke nodded, "I see: it's not something you control."

Mikado's eyes expressed an amount of caution, "Yes, but it is advisable that not everyone would appreciate such information."

"That's understandable." Sasuke sighed at the thought of being told he would not come out of this ordeal with his life, _'Then again, it doesn't sound like she can find out about intricate details. Maybe a little insight wouldn't hurt..'_

Speaking evenly, Sasuke ventured a tentative thought, "Knowing that you can relate general events, there's nothing to say that the information I am told cannot be used to my advantage."

Mikado's face erupted into a proud smile, "Oh, I knew you would see that. Sasuke, you do not disappoint."

Despite himself, Sasuke smiled a small smile and averted his eyes. He hadn't been praised in a long while; he had forgotten how good it felt to be recognised. In fact, he hadn't cared about being recognised in over ten years. He wondered at the unfamiliar feeling of wanting to be seen.

As she shuffled the cards one last time, Mikado hummed sweetly. Looking up and into the depths of Sasuke's dark eyes, she asked him to hold out one of his hands. He held out his right. Mikado took note of that and placed the deck into his palm.

"Please, shuffle those cards until you feel satisfied." She instructed him.

"These channel the energies that you interpret?" Sasuke's voice was void of the excitement he was beginning to feel.

"Very astute of you, dearling." She nodded as he looked back to the cards in his hands.

"All right. I'm done."

"Very good. Now, with your right hand, please place the deck into my own hand again." She held her right hand out to accept the cards, "Thankyou." Mikado fanned the cards out in one flick, still only using her right hand. She closed her eyes before saying, "Choose one card with your right hand and lay it face-down in the centre of the stone."

Sasuke studied her face closely; Mikado's facial muscles were completely relaxed. Glancing at the cards, he raised an eyebrow as one seemed to catch his attention immediately. It may have been an effect of the glowing fire, but the card seemed to radiate a warm yellow glow of its own. Reaching out with his right hand, as per Mikado's instructions, he slid the card from the deck. He placed it lightly onto the smooth stone. Following his instincts, he allowed his palm to rest over it for a brief moment. The coolness of the stone seeped through the card and into his hand, calming his racing blood. He retracted his hand.

Mikado opened her eyes and looked into Sasuke's. Against the darkness of the night sky reaching out behind her, Mikado's eyes gleamed a more magical green. Sasuke would have sworn they sparkled with tiny specks of white light.

She reached out her right hand and rested it over the card just as Sasuke had done only seconds before, all the while maintaining eye-contact with Sasuke.

Mikado began to speak before turning the card over, reassuring Sasuke that she would indeed be truthful in her words; her voice was gentle, "The Queen of Cups. She tells me there is a compassionate female in your life who nurtures those special to her. The Queen speaks of emotion, telling you that the female looks upon you lovingly." Mikado smiled at the fortunate message of the card, "Choosing this card signifies an importance of acknowledging your dreams – they may convey hidden messages."

Sasuke's lips quivered slightly, not from tears but from doubt, "You're telling the truth?" He was slightly surprised at his willingness to be as open with her as he was, but told himself that he was really only being paranoid when he felt suspicious of her.

Maybe Naruto was right – maybe he should stop analysing everything. In any case, Mikado could not have influenced his decision in the card he chose. He did not feel wary of her explanation of the cards in the least. Additionally, the message of the Queen of Cups seemed to describe Mikado herself – it was as if he was being told that it was all right to trust her.

_'Yes. I really **do **have to stop analysing things.'_ Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes.

As if she had expected his internal dilemma, Mikado caught his eyes with her own and assured him kindly, "I swear on Aldehyde's life that I have spoken the truth." She picked up the card and placed it back into the middle of the pack, shuffling it a little.

Aldehyde's silky voice rose over the music to reach them from the other side of the fire, "Hey, I heard that! Don't be betting my life, woman!"

Mikado didn't even turn around to bark a retort. Instead she smiled, her eyes becoming half-lidded and causing the designs around them to shift. She all but whispered, "His life is more dear to me than my own."

Sasuke accepted her guarantee silently, not at all sure about what he should say or do after such a solemn statement.

Luckily for him, Naruto chose that moment to yell and squawk about hitting his toe on some irresponsibly situated log, regardless that said log had no tangible form. Mikado chuckled and Sasuke excused himself with a nod of his head.

The festivities continued long into the night until everyone was thoroughly exhausted and prepared for a restful sleep.

* * *

After returning to their room, Naruto and Sasuke readied themselves to sleep. They had been told that if they left their robes hanging on a hook on a wall of their room, that Naruto was convinced had not been there before, that the robes would be clean the next time they picked them up. Therefore, Naruto and Sasuke took turns showering and replaced the robes, happy to use them as their bed clothes. 

As Sasuke exited the bathroom, Naruto spoke from his position under the covers of the bed, "What do you think it's like, having so many kids?"

Sasuke understood that Naruto's question referred to Mikado and her position as Mother Goddess of Mikado, but he decided to tease, "Painful?"

Naruto rolled over to scrutinise Sasuke, "Did you just make a joke?"

His reply was a careless snort.

Naruto didn't relent his staring as Sasuke climbed in on the other side of the bed. The lights went out, something else Mikado had told them would be independently regulated.

Sasuke was not facing Naruto but he didn't have to be, and neither did he require light, to know that Naruto was still staring at him.

He rolled over to face his friend, "What?" He breathed out. Sasuke felt the mattress shift as Naruto rolled onto his stomach, possibly to hide his hesitance at breaching the next topic of discussion. As Sasuke's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he was able to make out the pensive look on Naruto's face.

"She acts a lot like a mother, doesn't she?" Naruto's voice was an airy whisper. He cleared his throat and flattened his cheek against his folded hands, looking in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke blinked, "Perhaps."

"She really likes Emery. And did you see when she pat Hatsu on the head like that?" Naruto couldn't help but smile at the memory, "She really cares about the people in Mikado. If she chose us to help them, she must think we can do it." He searched Sasuke's eyes for some sort of agreement.

"Mm." Sasuke was reluctant to speak.

"What?" Naruto prodded.

Sasuke shifted his head to a more comfortable position against his pillow, "I agree that she holds affection for those people, but I don't know how much she knows about them."

"What do you mean?" Naruto's eyebrows furrowed; he wasn't following.

Sasuke spoke slowly, unsure how to word his thoughts, "She seems dedicated to some things more than others."

Naruto was at once defensive of Mikado, "What's that supposed to mean?" He leaned up onto his elbows.

Sasuke's hand reached out to grip Naruto's forearm gently in order to express an unspoken apology, "I didn't mean anything bad by it," Sasuke sighed in exasperation – Naruto had a talent for tiring him out, "I just meant she can't have a lot of contact with the people in Mikado if she's their one Goddess, and lives here." He added the afterthought.

Naruto lowered his head and, when Sasuke withdrew his hand, turned onto his side so he was facing Sasuke properly, "So, what do you think she's dedicated to, then?" He was genuinely curious.

"She's dedicated to Aldehyde." It was said matter-of-factly.

Naruto mulled over the information. A period of silence ensued.

When he spoke again, it was with a thoughtful tone, "You know, Aldehyde has a scar above his right eye." Naruto looked to that area on Sasuke's face, "He got it protecting Mikado."

"There's more to them than we know." Sasuke ignored the impulse to touch every scar he carried that was caused while acting to protect Naruto.

Naruto fought the same urge.

Throughout their history together, Naruto and Sasuke had probably given each other just as many marks as they had taken hits for the other. Nevertheless, they looked upon every one with only the thought of each other. To Naruto, everything was worth it for his best friend. To Sasuke, nothing was worth anything without Naruto.

"This isn't our fault." Sasuke whispered. He said it as much to reassure himself as Naruto.

"I know." Naruto replied, just as quietly.

Even though they knew it was because of them that the spirit had moved on, they had no way of knowing that this could possibly happen. In defeating Orochimaru, they only knew that they were finding freedom for themselves.

"We'll do our best, won't we?" Naruto had already decided for himself, but he wanted Sasuke with him.

Sasuke didn't smile, but Naruto heard the conviction in his voice, "Of course."

Comfortable with the silence that ensued between them, both decided to end the conversation there. It went without saying that they were ready for the next day. It went without saying that they would support each other in whatever situation they found themselves in.

Sasuke watched Naruto as he shifted onto his back and closed his eyes.

He must have fallen asleep just staring at his best friend's face, because the next thing he knew was an enveloping darkness.

* * *

Hi, hi! I hope you enjoyed chapter 8! I would really appreciate some feedback on the descriptions in this chapter. Are they too long? Did you like them? Hope you're looking forward to chapter 9! 

Oh, and does anyone have an opinion of the English dub of 'Air Gear' that he/she'd like to share? I'm personally not so fond of it.. Go MaNGa!! ... Just something I thought I'd ask. :P


	9. Just Sasuke

**Chapter Title: **'IX. Just Sasuke'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author: **Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre: **Drama, Horror  
**Warnings:** Mentions of past violence; mentions of death; nightmare setting  
**Rating:** M  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary: **You are safe nowhere, not even in dreams. The past is important and cannot be erased. It will haunt you, even when you forget what it was. It knows this, and therefore will not let you forget. In some way, your phantoms are kind to you.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters of 'Naruto' and setting of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** I am going to slow down now with 'MiKADo'. It's a very taxing story to write and I don't want to rush it. Thankyou to those people who have supported me so far! I hope that you won't give up on this story – I never will!! Oh, for this chapter, I didn't want to use names often.. mm. So, the "brother" is always Itachi, "him" or "he" is mostly Sasuke, and "the boy" is Naruto. It is basically Sasuke's memory of the incident that no one but he and Naruto know about.

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**IX. Just Sasuke**

**-**

He wasn't running.

It wasn't dark.

It wasn't raining.

But his vision _was_ swimming.

He _did _feel like he was falling.

He was happy. Oh Heavens, he was happy. He had just learned that his entire life was a lie. And he was happy.

_I've been fighting for so long; fighting my memories, fighting Itachi, fighting Naruto. Now it can all stop._

Perhaps it was the water suddenly collecting in his eyes that made his vision blur so.

Maybe it was because of the memories of what he had to do to get to this point that he suddenly felt faint.

When the alarm had sounded, he knew the Akatsuki had come. He hadn't expected that they would let the damage Orochimaru had caused to their plans go unpunished. When he had slid his katana into place and raced to the centre of the hideout, he knew he would see his brother there. He expected this would be their last meeting.

_I've finally caught up to you – finally challenged you – but I'm so glad I don't have to kill you._

He hadn't expected, however, for his brother to tear the Akatsuki cloak from his body. He couldn't have foreseen that his brother would cast it into the boiling lava pools that surrounded the pillar they stood on. The ring followed soon after. And he certainly hadn't expected for his brother to throw the severed head of Akatsuki's leader at his feet.

What came next – a recount of the true history of the Uchiha Clan up to that moment – was something he thought he'd never hear. The claims his brother made were absurd.

But they also made a sick kind of sense.

And now he is standing before his brother, hands shaking and mouth dry, wanting so much to leave with him and never look back; wanting desperately to call him 'aniki' again.

But he knows that cannot happen yet; there is too much standing in the way of it.

Knowing that both Orochimaru's men and the Akatsuki are heading his way, he makes a decision and tells his brother of it. They will be fighting together, just the two of them, as it was supposed to be from the beginning, in order to take back the freedom they never had.

His brother attempts a reply but only rose-red blood drips from his mouth. His brother shrugs tiredly and asks whether or not his otouto expected he would come away from a battle with the Leader unharmed.

He now sees how pale his brother is, and how he stands with a hunch and favouring one leg.

His decision changes. He tells his brother of it: he will fight while his brother gets out – there is nothing he can offer but to be a distraction.

He watches the man clad in purple and black leave.

_I never thought you'd take orders from me. I guess things change when I tell you it's my turn to be strong. _

He sees Orochimaru's men reach the floating pillar just as his brother runs into another passage. He knows that Orochimaru will not be far behind, and silently thanks his brother for understanding.

_You'd never deny me this fight._

He starts to fight and kills one, two, three. Another one, two, three. They fall at his hands and blade of his sword, but there are so many. He calls on the power of Sharingan and feels renewed. He fights for himself and for his brother.

_You and I will regain the time we've lost._

Still they come. There are so many. Where did they all sprout from? Are they even human? He knows he can fend them off, but when it comes time to face the vilest of them all, will he be able to succeed?

Somewhere in his memory is the face of a boy who he knows he will need in order to win this fight.

Once and for all.

_And I will repay what I owe to that boy..._

As heroes go, the boy he once knew arrives at just the right moment with an explosive entrance. He almost smiles before realising it will take him a while to remember how.

_I don't run from Naruto when he comes. I don't tell him what's happened so far. All I say is, if he fights beside me, I will go back with him. I don't think I've ever felt so free in my entire life. _

He and the boy he remembers are fighting together now. He feels he will win and will set everything right. This feels like a dream. He can't wait to be with his brother again. He can't wait to be with his brother in their home again.

_You'd probably laugh if I told you it's because I **can** go back._

He lunges and swipes, and dashes and jumps; he thinks of his brother all the while.

_I know you'd smile if I told you it's because I can go back **with him**._

He and the boy are an unstoppable force. They work together like the team they were always meant to be. But then he has a feeling – something makes his stomach fall – and he doesn't want to believe in what he already knows.

_It's when I see your body falling from the cliff above, that I realise you didn't leave when I told you to. You stopped them – stopped them from coming to kill me. _

His brother defied him. Always for him, his brother always did everything for him.

He wishes he could thank him.

_You're falling and I can't do anything. I can't do anything and I hate myself for it._

He wanted to be with his brother again. When the unbelievable happened, he thought that maybe his dream could come true. The side of him that was always suspicious, always doubted and never let him hope told him from the first moment that it could never be.

_You've saved me so many times, and even though you knew you would die doing it, I tried with all I had to stop it._

He can't do anything.

_Your body lands on the ground before me._

He can't even say his name.

_Your eyes close._

The memory will be with him always:

_The last thing you saw was my face covered in your blood._

It isn't fair. Nothing is fair. Nothing was ever fair.

_I've lost my brother twice in one life.. all because of HIM!_

Orochimaru has come.

The boy from his memories bares his teeth and readies himself for a fight. They both know they share this enemy.

After the fight is over and he clutches to the boy from his memories, he thanks him with all the words he wanted to say to his brother. They are both drenched, head to toe, in blood. It stains their skin and hair and dulls their eyes.

The boy tightens his hold.

He goes back – home – with the boy from his memories, and makes another decision: he wants to destroy his links to the past, he wants to become something unrelated and unrecognisable. He hates the people who bore him to a world, a life, that was planned to have no meaning he could appreciate.

_I renounce the name Uchiha. Now I am just Sasuke._

**Sasuke.**

_Because it was the Uchihas who turned on Konoha._

**Sasuke.**

_Because it was the Uchihas who caused all this._

**Sasuke.**

_Because it was the Uchihas who sent my brother to die._

**Sasuke.**

_Because it was an Uchiha who almost killed Naruto._

And then I woke up screaming.


	10. Between Roots, Cats and Spoons

**Chapter Title: **'X. Between Roots, Cats and Spoons'  
**Belonging To: **'MiKADo'  
**Author: **Miss.Yamapi.Kara  
**Genre:** Humour  
**Warnings:** None outstanding  
**Rating:** K+  
**Base: **'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto  
**Chapter Summary: **Orioto expresses his dislike for Magic, then foolishly gives in to a nagging temptation to gossip.

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership over the manga, anime or other variations of what I know as 'Naruto'. I am gaining no profit from this piece.  
All material other than the characters of 'Naruto' and setting of 'Naruto' is claimed as the sole property of myself.

**Heads Up: **If necessary, action will be taken to protect my own writing. It would be greatly appreciated if fellow avid-writers, all readers or general persons would respect the content of this document and not copy it. If it is desired by anyone to use any part of the text on the page, I would bid him or her to contact me and it shall be discussed.

Miss.Yamapi.Kara

**Author's Note:** Please, after this chapter, read the note at the bottom of the page. Otherwise: this chapter was totally unplanned - really only written for the purpose of posing the questions at the end of the chapter. Perhaps you'll enjoy it, anyway. :D

_Proceeding..._

* * *

**MiKADo**

**-**

**X. Between Roots, Cats and Spoons**

**-**

"Oh no, not you again." From his place on the kitchen counter, Orioto groaned at the black cat.

Magic had entered the kitchen, looking naturally smug and self-satisfied as cats do. He prowled his way to the foot of the bench and stared up at the root, "Mee!" His mewl was sweet as if to ask, 'Now why are you so unhappy to see me?'

"Nuisance, leave off! You have it in your mind to slap at my leaves again, I know it!" Orioto leaned forward to see over the edge of the counter, hissing his orders in quite a cat-like way, to which Magic only tipped an ear.

The black cat leaped onto the counter and looked at the root curiously, "Merow." He purred and continued to stare.

With beady eyes fixed on the feline, Orioto said, "I don't trust you, you know; you tell Mikado everything."

Magic's eyes shone innocently. He swung his head in an inquiring fashion.

"If I tell you anything, you'll just go scurrying off to her, won't you?" Orioto crossed his stumpy arms.

The cat licked his paw and rubbed it over his ear. He did this a few times before shaking his head and looking at Orioto again, obviously prepared to be patient.

If roots carried blood, Orioto would have turned red, "I'm not telling! That horrible girl can go figure it out for herself."

"Mreeew.." Magic drew out a yawn with a yowl and curled himself up right where he sat.

Orioto snarled at the intrusive animal and waved his leaves in a manner of frustration, "Didn't you hear me before? I said, leave off!"

Magic only gazed around the kitchen, eyes glinting with reflections of glass jars and silverware, entirely comfortable to ignore The Wizard's whining. In truth, he had no idea what Orioto was gabbling on about but was becoming interested the more he listened.

"It isn't even anything important. Mikado hardly has any business knowing." Orioto was trying to convince himself of this at the same time as trying to sound nonchalant to Magic, "Besides, she has her hands full." He flapped a leaf dismissively.

Would his body allow him to, Magic would have rolled his eyes. He leaned his head back and scratched between his ears on a blunt tool behind him, the way cats do when they relax. He believed he'd seen Mikado use that to break open coconuts before.

Orioto eyed the feline with distaste, dismayed that Magic had chosen to rest in the kitchen.

Orioto hated cats.

Magic rolled over and rubbed his back on the counter lazily. Purrs of satisfaction vibrated through the air. He yawned again, nice and wide, letting his day-old-fish breath roll from his tongue.

Orioto especially hated this cat.

"Isn't there another room much more comfortable than this one for you to splay about in?" He spoke with a huff, knowing full well that Magic wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Turning away from the cat, he occupied himself by following the twisting vines along the walls with his eyes.

Silence lasted a few moments.

Feeling a gaze weighing on him, Orioto turned around to find Magic staring. He was still laying on his back, looking at the root from an upside-down point of view.

Orioto curled his leaves as one would their toes and spat with the urgency that comes with giving in, "Oh, fine! You insistent itch, listen carefully because I won't be saying this again!"

Magic rolled over and stood to lean his ear up towards Orioto, who placed a wide green leaf next to his own mouth, unnecessarily hiding the shapes of his words.

The next moment was silent, save for the incoherent whispering crossing from plant to cat.

"There. And I know you'll agree, it is entirely unnecessary for Mikado to hear of it." Orioto pulled back and crossed his arms again, nodding once.

Magic blinked and his yellow eyes twinkled. Black whiskers twitched in a way that made Orioto's intuition for dread spike.

"Surely not..." He breathed, eyes wide and leaves still.

Mouth pulled into what was most likely the feline equivalent of a grin, Magic dropped to the kitchen floor and bounded through a doorway in a flash.

"No! Come back, you.. you.. argh!" Orioto wailed and flapped his leaves, howling obscenities at the sly cat.

Across the room, a drawer opened seemingly of its own accord. Out of it poked a silver spoon, laughing eyes crinkled in direction of Orioto. It giggled and advised, "You should never trust a cat."

Whipping around with a wild look in his eyes, Orioto sounded near hysterical, "What would you know? You're just a spoon!"

"A bespelled spoon, I'll have you know. Mind your manners." And the drawer shut without another word from the cutlery piece.

"Why.. why always me?" His leaves withered and he deflated, "Mikado won't let me hear the end of this."

* * *

Ok, here's what's on my mind: 

'MiKADo' was not originally a plot meant for Fanfiction. I wanted to write a chapter-fic for 'Naruto' and didn't feel good about writing a chapter-fic without original characters in it for some reason. I had 'MiKADo' notes lying around and decided to integrate (mainly) Naruto and Sasuke into the storyline for my first 'Naruto' chapter-fic. However, it's become very difficult for me to keep the two in-character. I've also had the comment that Mikado seems to be becoming a suspected self-insert (the type of fics I dislike most are self-insertion fics, by the way..) and I want to avoid that thought coming to people's minds. I appreciated the note because I needed to be told it - I would hate for people to read this fic and go, "Oh great, another one..".

Anyway, my point is this: I am considering discontinuing this fic to resume it one day when I know how to control it better. The story 'MiKADo' is one of my most-loved so far, and even though I believe I can learn a lot about my own writing by testing it out here, I'm not so sure it's worth it anymore. I see a very good chance of screwing up royally.

What I would like to do is discontinue 'MiKADo' (Fanfic edition) and concentrate on 'Conscious Dreaming', which still has six chapters to go. I have another idea for a fanfic in mind at the moment that sprung from fanfic brainstorming, which makes it much easier for me to control in terms of keeping it appropriate for this site. Therefore, I have something to go on with after 'Conscious Dreaming' is concluded.

I'd like to know from you, the readers, what you think about this and whether or not you support my thoughts.

I'd really appreciate any comment about it. Thankyou!


End file.
